


Your Mess Is Mine

by IetjeSiobhan



Series: haikyuu wolfverse [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternative Universe - Werewolves, Bokuto Koutarou is a Good Friend, Fluff, Kuroo is a werewolf, M/M, Pining, Possessive Behavior, Scent Marking, Scents & Smells, They're stupid and they're stupidly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27103927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IetjeSiobhan/pseuds/IetjeSiobhan
Summary: Kuroo is a werewolf but befriends Kenma and falls in love with him all the same.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, background Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: haikyuu wolfverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983488
Comments: 78
Kudos: 487
Collections: KuroKen Fics, Recommended KuroKen Fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> First of all, I feel like I should say that this fic has made me lose a good amount of sleep. I wrote it quite quickly, and then I started editing and everything just fell apart.
> 
> The good news are: The entire fic is already pretty much finished, I just need to polish the second chapter a little bit, but I'm very confident that it will be uploaded this week.  
> The bad news are: I don't particularly like this fanfic myself, even though I did enjoy the writing process, up until I started editing. (I hope some of you will like this fic, at least.) It's also not beta-read and I myself am not a native speaker, so please excuse any mistakes you may find.
> 
> The title is from 'Mess Is Mine' by Vance Joy.
> 
> And, lastly, a cw: _there is mention of illness (a common cold) in the second chapter!_
> 
> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not financially profit from this work. The characters do not belong to me, I merely borrowed them.

Tetsurou is different than other kids. He knows this from a young age on.

It’s not because he’s kind of nerdy or introverted – which he is – or because his grandparents live in the same house as him – which they do – but rather because of something a little bigger.

The reason why Tetsurou is different than the other human children is because he’s not a human child.

He’s a werewolf. He is also a child, just not a human one.

It’s not a big thing, for him; he loves spending time with his pack, whereas other children kind of intimidate him. This also makes keeping his true nature secret from them a lot easier, since he doesn’t really speak to them in the first place.

His monthly furry problem also isn’t that big of a deal to him. He simply spends most full moons playing in the garden with his father. They have a big house out of town, no close neighbours. They’re even very close to the forest, so sometimes they’ll end up going running or hunting on full moons, which is always fun. He even regularly gets to shift and stretch his paws outside of full moons, thanks to where they’re living.

All in all: being a wolf doesn’t really count as a ‘problem’ to Tetsurou, and he’s happy with his general situation.

That is, of course, until they move to Tokyo.

Tetsurou’s dad sits him down on a Thursday and tells him that they’re going to be moving. There have been some problems with another local pack and he just got a job opening in Tokyo, so moving there is simply what seems like the best solution at the moment.

It means that Tetsurou won’t just be able to run around in wolf form in the garden at the light of day, because they’re actually going to have neighbours, now. It also means that full moons will either mean staying inside or driving hours out of town to visit relatives. They’ll probably take the latter option whenever possible, but Tetsurou already isn’t looking forwards to full moons that fall on weekdays.

There’s also another big change in his life that comes with moving to Tokyo.

Kenma.

\--

The Kozumes are their new next-door-neighbours and they have a son Tetsurou’s age – Kenma is just one year younger – so it seems practical to both them and Tetsurou’s father that they should be introduced to each other.

Tetsurou’s father is actually ecstatic that Tetsurou may finally make friends, partially because Tetsurou hasn’t made friends outside of their family at all, so far, and partially because with his father’s new job his working hours have increased tremendously and he’s a little bit scared about Tetsurou feeling lonely. A member of the pack not being around a lot is always hard, but when the pack is as small as theirs, it’s even worse.

So Tetsurou and Kenma are both thrown to the wolves – in Kenma’s case literally – and introduced to each other by their overly excited parents. Apparently Kenma is kind of a loner as well, so his parents are equally as hopeful for this to blossom into a friendship.

And their hopes are actually fulfilled, because it does.

\--

Kenma and Tetsurou don’t do much at first – they just play videogames – but it’s nice, in a way that hanging out with kids his age has never felt before. Kenma doesn’t force Tetsurou to talk, and it seems like he couldn’t care less about the fact that Tetsurou is quite bad at social interactions, which takes a lot of stress out of Tetsurou.

Growing up as a wolf who never really spent time with human children left him quite lacking in his social skills, and when he did actually try to spend time with other kids, they never let him forget that fact.

Kenma isn’t like that.

Tetsurou actually starts looking forward to spending time at Kenma’s; he’s never looked forward this much to something before. And then Kenma brings up that they could play something other than he video game they’ve been playing, and well – Tetsurou _is_ a werewolf, after all. He kind of loves sports, loves moving, loves running and jumping and letting his reflexes work. He also gets overly excited by balls, as would a dog, which he’d never admit out loud, but it’s – well, it’s the truth.

One of the sports that have fascinated him from a young age on is volleyball. It has so many elements that Tetsurou loves: A ball, jumping, the necessity of really quick reflexes. It’s also a team sport, and while Tetsurou has always been careful at best around other children, he _is_ a pack animal, after all, and team sports seem really nice for that reason alone.

So volleyball is kind of a no-brainer, and when Kenma asks Tetsurou if he wants to play something else, he brings over a volleyball, feeling excitement course through him. He’s sure that if he were wearing his fur right now, his tail would be wagging.

Kenma immediately catches onto his excitement, and even though it turns out that physical activity was very much _not_ what he had in mind, he goes along with it and with that, quickly becomes Tetsurou’s new favourite person.

\--

Growing up as a wolf around humans is interesting, especially when you have a human best friend. Tetsurou has never given much thought to it before he met Kenma, but, well, after he meets Kenma, things change.

Tetsurou’s never had to think about his werewolf instincts before. Around his pack he can just let them roam free, after all, and he’s never had close friends before, so nobody ever brought out more than his urge to maybe growl a little in him.

With Kenma, though, everything’s different.

Because the longer Tetsurou knows him, the more Kenma starts to bring out his instincts in him.

It starts out small enough, when they’re still eight and seven respectively and have only known each other for a few months.

Tetsurou is staying over at Kenma’s and they’re just sitting together on Kenma’s bed, Tetsurou talking about a documentary he’s seen the other day that really excited him – it was about squirrels and his wolf instincts came out a little bit; he could do nothing more than intently watch the tv screen for the entire two hours it was on. He did supress his urge to shift and go find the nearest hunting ground, though, which he personally is very proud of.

Kenma is sitting next to him, just a little distance between them, playing a game on his PSP, and suddenly Tetsurou is overcome with the strong urge to cuddle right into him. _He’s pack_ , his inner wolf tells him with a tone that books no arguments _, he’s pack pack pack you need to touch pack!_

So that’s new.

Not the urge to be close to his pack – that’s a very normal urge, one that’s always been there, and pack cuddling is really nice and relaxing and good to strengthen pack bonds. It’s one of the absolute base instincts, to seek out physical proximity with members of your pack to strengthen the pack bonds.

It’s just that until now, _pack_ has only ever been Tetsurou’s family. Usually the immediate family he lives with, but when he visits aunts and cousins they’ll also always end up in a big cuddling pile. That’s just how wolves are. Proximity is nice, after all, and there really is no reason to ignore your wolf instincts when you’re around other wolves. Plus, even the family that lives farther away still counts as pack at least a little bit.

Now, though, he’s sitting next to Kenma and Tetsurou’s inner wolf is telling him _very_ determinedly that Kenma is pack and Tetsurou needs to touch him.

It’s a little bit scary, actually; Tetsurou is mildly terrified that Kenma will find him seeking out physical closeness weird.

They haven’t really been touchy so far, with both of them needing time to warm up to each other and Kenma usually keeping at least a little distance between himself and every other person around him, including Tetsurou.

But Tetsurou really just wants to cuddle with Kenma a little bit right now. It would be fine if he could just rest his side against Kenma’s, he thinks, something small, something innocuous.

So he shuffles over a little bit. Kenma looks up from his PSP, sending him a questioning look, which might have to do with Tetsurou shuffling over – or it might have to do with the fact that he’s stopped talking, to focus more on getting closer.

Timidly, Tetsurou closes the last few centimetres and lets his side rest against Kenma’s.

Kenma looks up at him with narrowed eyes, and then sighs. “Are you feeling cuddly?” he asks.

It’s only been a few months, but it already feels like Kenma can read him like he’s an open book. It’s a weird but somewhat heady feeling. Tetsurou’s never truly felt _seen_ by someone before and now he does, and it’s scary and exhilarating all at once. Strange, that he feels so seen by someone who doesn’t even know the biggest part of Tetsurou. But Kenma seems to _get_ him, without having to know exactly _why_ Tetsurou is the way he is.

So Tetsurou nods, and in a move that he didn’t expect at all, Kenma completely wiggles into him, settling so he’s sat between Tetsurou’s legs, his back leaning against Tetsurou’s chest. He takes Tetsurou’s arms and arranges them so that they’re snaked around his waist, and then he resumes playing his game as if nothing’s happened.

Tetsurou just stares for a moment.

Having Kenma in his arms is exactly what he needs, has been craving. He has no idea how Kenma knows that, how Kenma knows to give him something Tetsurou couldn’t even ask for, but there he is, tucked safely into Tetsurou’s arms, and Tetsurou’s inner wolf _sings_ at having his pack close and safe. He can feel the pack bond to Kenma strengthen, the one he didn’t even know existed prior to this day. That this pack bond even exists at all should probably be worrying him and maybe he should be taking a whole bunch of steps back as quickly as possible, because Kenma is _human_ and there is not one single good reason for him to feel as much as pack as Tetsurou’s _family_ , but it just feels so, so right to have him close, to deepen this bond.

So Tetsurou relaxes into Kenma, hooks his chin over Kenma’s shoulder to watch him play his game, and resumes talking about the squirrel documentary.

Kenma doesn’t really pay him all that much attention apart from humming now and then at a part of Tetsurou’s retelling, and by anyone else’s standards this probably wouldn’t constitute as spending some ‘quality time’ with your best friend, but for him, it’s perfect, and by the time Tetsurou gets home that day, he feels mellowed out and happy and settled.

He’s probably needed this for a while without knowing, and that should probably scare him, but he’s still just a child and currently a very happy one, at that.

He doesn’t tell his dad that he’s starting to form a pack bond with Kenma, even though he probably should.

It’s just that it feels so natural, now that the bond is being satiated, that he can’t bring himself to see it as something big. How could there be a problem with something that feels so right?

\--

The cuddling becomes a regular occurrence. As time passes, they’re found snuggling close more often than they aren’t, and it becomes so natural to everyone around them, as well as Tetsurou and Kenma themselves, that it’s barely worth a second thought.

The side-effect of that is that both Tetsurou and Kenma become unbearable when they haven’t been around each other for a few days, which fortunately is easy to remedy. Kenma’s family just starts taking Tetsurou along when they actually go on vacation for more than a few days, and Kenma and Tetsurou hang out every single day if they can, and they become such a fixture in each other’s lives that it feels like it’s never been any other way.

\--

The second time Tetsurou’s instincts start demanding he change his actions around Kenma is quite a few years later. It’s another urge that just seems to come out of nowhere and then refuses to leave him alone again, much like the first one.

Tetsurou is thirteen and Kenma is twelve when this particular instinct acts up.

It starts completely innocuous; they’re playing volleyball on their middle school team and at some point during practice, Kenma and their third-year setter take a water break together.

It’s nothing noteworthy, not really, but then said setter makes a joke and Kenma actually snorts a little laugh. Tetsurou immediately picks up on it, because even with all the loud noises around them, his hearing is fine-tuned on Kenma. He likes to blame this on the fact that he sees Kenma as pack, and therefore can’t help but pick up every little noise Kenma makes, even if he’s never this acutely aware of any of his other pack members.

Now, Tetsurou hears Kenma’s little snort of laughter and his entire body goes rigid.

He doesn’t understand why, but suddenly the possessive side of his wolf is _howling_.

Here’s the thing: Tetsurou’s always been very possessive when it comes to his pack; it’s just another part of being a werewolf. His father had explained to him from a young age on that it’s completely normal, something every wolf goes through, but still something he needs to keep under control, because this possessive instinct isn’t very rational and usually does more damage than good when left to its own devices.

So he’s always known that he’s very possessive and that that’s something he has to learn how to deal with, but it’s never been quite this bad before. He’s felt possessive bouts around Kenma sometimes, sure, but never on this scale. And the fact that his inner wolf is pretty much freaking out simply because Kenma laughed at something someone else said is completely ridiculous.

Tetsurou tries to keep it together and not stomp over, but even though he manages that, the urge to get all up in their space and yank Kenma away is strong enough to offset his balance for the rest of practice.

He’s glad that he’s able to keep himself somewhat under wraps and not actually _act_ on his instincts until practice ends, as well as the entire way home.

As soon as they’re in Kenma’s room, though, he simply grabs Kenma’s arm and pulls him onto the bed with him, wrapping himself around Kenma.

“Everything okay?” Kenma asks, immediately a little bit worried, and Tetsurou hides his face in Kenma’s neck and nods.

He discreetly tries to take a little sniff of Kenma’s scent because that usually tends to calm him down pretty fast – few things are better than the smell of _pack_ when the wolfy side of him is feeling unsettled – but today, it just makes it worse.

Because it’s not only Kenma’s scent that he’s picking up, there are also still remnants of other smells, like the club room and other team members, clinging to Kenma. Not overtly strong, he did take a quick shower after all, but strong enough to make Tetsurou feel entirely unhinged.

And before he knows what he’s doing, he’s frantically rubbing his face into Kenma’s neck, trying to drench those unwanted smells out with _his_.

“Kuro?” Kenma asks after a short while, now sounding really, really worried.

Kenma’s voice manages to rip him out of his haze and Tetsurou stops in his tracks.

What is he _doing_?

This has never happened to him before. Sure, like every werewolf he likes to have his scent on his pack, as a quiet sign of belonging, but he’s never _rubbed_ _it_ into someone before! This is not just leaving a small note on a member of his pack, this is thoroughly _drenching_ someone in his scent.

Not only has he never done that before, he’s also never felt the urge to do it before, and he has no clue where it suddenly came from.

Then, he remembers something his father taught him about.

Scent-marking.

His father had explained it to him once, about a year ago. He’d looked thoroughly uncomfortable while doing so, like he’d rather be having any other conversation – its contents not important, as long as it wasn’t the one they were having.

He’d told Tetsurou that someday, he would probably feel the urge to scent-mark someone – not just leave a little note with his scent on someone in his pack, but thoroughly _mark_ someone.

“It’s what happens when your wolf considers someone an ideal mate,” his father had told him. “You’ll want to mark that person to make sure everyone knows they belong to you.” At that point, Tetsurou had understood why his father looked so uncomfortable. “It can also happen when you’re simply in love with someone. That’s usually why it happens. Because, you know, you’ll also want everyone to know that person is yours in that case.”

It had been a thoroughly uncomfortable conversation for the both of them back then, but Tetsurou understands why his father deemed it an important one for them to have, now.

So.

Scent-marking.

Tetsurou can’t believe he seriously just tried to scent-mark Kenma.

Kenma isn’t even a wolf. Kenma is _human_. Kenma is also Tetsurou’s best friend and nothing good can come out of Tetsurou considering him a good mate – or being in love with him. Tetsurou isn’t sure which option it is, and he also isn’t sure he wants to investigate the matter further. He truly doesn’t know which option is the worse one. Both seem pretty catastrophic to him.

He can’t believe he tried to _scent-mark_ _Kenma_.

“Kuro?” Kenma says again, ripping him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry,” Tetsurou mumbles. He hides his face in Kenma’s back. “I’ve just had an off day.” He hopes that suffices as an explanation. He really can’t give Kenma any other explanation right now. Even if Kenma knew about Tetsurou’s furry problem – which he very much _doesn’t_ – Tetsurou wouldn’t be able to give him a good explanation, since there’s no way he can tell him the truth, which is that he got jealous about Kenma laughing at someone else’s joke and then, in a true fit of idiocy, decided he needed to scent-mark him to claim his territory.

Tetsurou has never before had a problem with being a werewolf, but he thinks he might have one now, because if this instinct keeps coming up, that’s very much going to be a problem.

“Hm,” Kenma makes, and then he turns around in Tetsurou’s arms, nuzzles his face into Tetsurou’s chest and snakes his arms around Tetsurou’s waist.

As always, he seems to know exactly what Tetsurou needs, because as soon as Kenma nuzzles into him, Tetsurou’s entire body relaxes. He breathes out a long sigh and buries his face into Kenma’s hair.

\--

The instinct to scent-mark Kenma very much keeps happening. Tetsurou is pretty sure it’s his own fault, too.

Because that first time he does it, he’s successful in scent-marking Kenma – successful enough that Kenma positively _reeks_ of him even a day later, which is when Tetsurou notices how strongly his own scent is clinging to Kenma.

Tetsurou can’t help but preen at it and spends the entire day trying to subtly take whiffs of Kenma’s scent, trying to catch his own scent clinging to him, marking him as _taken_ to any werewolf he might encounter.

His scent is strong enough on Kenma that for a moment, it feels absurd that even a human nose could miss it.

It makes him stupidly happy and proud, just fanning the flames of his possessiveness.

It’s the root of a whole bunch of problems, because now that Tetsurou knows what Kenma smells like when he’s properly scent marked, their scents intermingling, very clearly announcing ‘he’s taken!’, he never wants Kenma to smell any other way.

Which definitely is a _huge_ problem. Especially because Kenma isn’t _actually_ taken.

It does, however, answer the question he didn’t want to ask, the question of whether it’s his wolf seeing Kenma as a mate or Tetsurou just being stupidly in love that’s brought on this behaviour. He’s pretty sure it’s the latter one, now, with how good it feels to have Kenma basically smelling like he’s in a relationship with Tetsurou.

And that he’s probably in love with his best friend is his next huge problem, albeit one he doesn’t have the energy to deal with right now, not when he has his werewolf side to wrestle back under control.

Because obviously, he won’t scent-mark Kenma again. This is a one-time thing, a thing that shouldn’t even have happened the one time it did, and there’s no way Tetsurou is letting it happen again.

\--

It happens again.

In Tetsurou’s defence, he does hold out for over a year. He holds out for all of middle school, actually, which he is quite proud of. It takes a lot of effort – _so much_ effort – but the fact that he and Kenma cuddle a _lot_ helps. Because of their frequent touches there is always at least some of Tetsurou’s scent on Kenma, which may not be precisely what he needs, but it’s just enough to keep him somewhat sane.

And then Tetsurou moves on to high school while Kenma stays in middle school for another year.

He tells himself that he’ll manage. He didn’t have Kenma by his side for the first eight years of his life, after all, and this is just one year. How hard could it possibly be?

He manages for less than one day.

\--

At the end of the first day of high school, Tetsurou feels completely wrung out. He’s not sure if it’s just him being overwhelmed by all the new people, loud noises and the unfamiliar surroundings, or if it’s his wolf feeling uneasy about being separated from his pack and being in a new environment. He’d guess it’s a little bit of both, especially since one of the things hates the most about the new school is that he doesn’t have Kenma by his side.

He used to hate school, because it meant being apart from his pack and being alone, before Kenma. Then, with Kenma by his side, he got used to school being bearable, even fun, because Tetsurou is kind of a nerd and thoroughly enjoys learning new things.

School without Kenma, though, is pure horror, and the new environment truly doesn’t help with that. He feels like he might be regressing to his state of hating school.

He doesn’t even go home for a little while after school; instead, he goes straight over to Kenma’s. He’s feeling raw and vulnerable and a little unhinged, having been away from Kenma, which is stupid, because the last time he saw Kenma was this morning, walking with him to school – Kenma’s school is on the way to Tetsurou’s, so their routine of walking to school together has stayed mostly the same, fortunately.

Tetsurou thinks that if he hadn’t seen Kenma this morning, he might have had a complete breakdown.

As it is, he already feels a lot worse than he has in a long time.

In fact, he hasn’t felt this horrible since his family first moved to Tokyo.

He isn’t sure why it’s so bad this time; he already knows what it’s like to not go to the same school as Kenma, since he moved on to middle school a year before Kenma did. This time it’s so much worse, though. Tetsurou doesn’t understand _why_.

He thinks it might have to do with his newfound feelings for Kenma; the pack bond and friendship were already there the last time he changed schools, after all, so they can’t be the culprit.

(Then again, the feelings might have been there for a lot longer than he’s known about them as well, if he’s being truthful, but he still tries to ignore them as best he can. Just because he knows they’re there now doesn’t mean he has to acknowledge them. And he really, really doesn’t have the time to be in love with his best friend. He already has one secret he’s keeping from Kenma, a second one just isn’t helping.)

Kenma is lounging on his bed when Tetsurou barges into his bedroom. He’s playing on his PSP, the way he usually is, but as soon as he sees Tetsurou, he lets it fall and opens his arms.

Tetsurou practically barrels into them, hugging Kenma so tightly he probably should be careful not to break something.

“Kenma,” he murmurs, feeling a little desperate, and it’s stupid probably – they’ve only seen each other a few hours ago, but it’s still been _too long_ and he missed Kenma so, so much.

Kenma sighs and relaxes into Tetsurou’s hold, and only now that he has Kenma relaxing into him, that he can feel the tension bleed out of Kenma, does he realise that Kenma had been looking tense himself when Tetsurou first barged into the room.

“It’s probably stupid, but I missed you so much,” Tetsurou tells Kenma, open with his affection the way he always is around Kenma. To his surprise, Kenma doesn’t mock him for it this time.

Instead he says, “It’s even more stupid that I missed you too,” and Tetsurou nearly cries. He buries his nose in Kenma’s neck and takes a deep breath in, and that’s when he realizes that Kenma barely smells like him anymore but that he _does_ smell a lot like school and other people.

A deep growl starts forming in his throat, and he manages to wrangle the growl into submission, but he can’t supress the instinct to bury his face in Kenma’s neck and _mark him_ , this time. He tries to not be too obvious as he rubs his face along Kenma’s neck, hopes he just comes off as extra cuddly. He doesn’t know what he’d do if Kenma were to ask him for an explanation, since he certainly doesn’t have one.

But Kenma doesn’t comment on it, just lets Tetsurou, and it settles something in him, makes the last traces of rawness and vulnerability go away.

“I don’t want to spend a whole year without you,” Tetsurou tells Kenma.

This time, Kenma seems to feel settled enough again to mock him. “You’re such a sap. It’s only a year, Kuro, and you’ll still see me every day, no need to act like I’m dying.”

The easy admission that they’ll see each other on a daily basis helps a lot, somehow. It’s been true for a long time now – they’ve been spending every possible second together for years. But Kenma has never outright said that it’s their state of normalcy, and never acknowledged that it’s a normalcy that will stay. For all that Tetsurou’s known for years that Kenma doesn’t intend to reduce the time they spend around each other, hearing him say it so easily, like it’s a simple fact that doesn’t even deserve a second thought, makes feel Tetsurou inexplicably happy.

He _loves_ this boy, loves him so unbearably much, and the thought suddenly doesn’t seem so scary anymore.

Kenma can still never find out, but if Tetsurou can just stay like this, by Kenma’s side, and keep loving him, then that’s okay. Kenma is _pack_ , and that’s already so much more than Tetsurou deserves.

If Kenma were a werewolf he’d see Tetsurou as pack, too, Tetsurou thinks, and for all that Kenma isn’t one, his instincts still seem to tell him to keep Tetsurou close, and that makes Tetsurou’s heart soar.

He truly, honestly loves Kenma so much his heart might burst with it.

\--

It seems that now that Tetsurou has managed to stealthily scent-mark Kenma, the floodgates open. Now that he knows it’s possible, it gets a lot harder to contain his instincts, to not act on them.

So he does, from time to time.

Once or twice a week, he’ll scent-mark Kenma.

It’s never the obvious, thorough scent-marking Tetsurou wants to do, but he really doesn’t think there’s a good way to hold Kenma down and rub himself all over him, until Kenma’s thoroughly drenched in Tetsurou’s scent to his satisfaction, and play it off as platonic. So what he’s currently doing will have to suffice.

It already helps a lot, truth be told. Just taking an inconspicuous whiff of Kenma’s scent after he’s scent-marked him and finding their scents properly intermingled, leaving no doubt that Kenma _has_ been marked, feels incredible.

Tetsurou knows that he should probably stop this; Kenma isn’t his to mark. Kenma isn’t his, period. Tetsurou is basically telling every werewolf in a five-hundred-meter radius around Kenma that he’s been claimed by Tetsurou and is firmly off the market, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Well, the ‘off the market’ part at least. The other part … Tetsurou tries to not admit it to himself, but he kind of has claimed Kenma for himself, emotionally.

Even if Kenma will never see Tetsurou that way, Tetsurou is set on Kenma and Kenma only.

Werewolves usually mate for life, and Tetsurou has picked his mate.

It’s stupid, probably, because he’s still so young, but he doesn’t think there ever could be anyone else.

His subconscious probably made the decision the first time Kenma just _got_ Tetsurou and let him cuddle him, accepting himself into the pack. And even though Kenma had had no idea that that’s what he was doing, Tetsurou just latched on in that moment and said ‘okay, he belongs to me now’ and he’s never gone back on that decision.

\--

The flip-side of scent-marking Kenma is that Tetsurou also smells like _Kenma’s_ to every were around, declaring very openly that he’s scent-marking him.

His family had barely raised an eyebrow at him for it – possibly because they already smelled a lot like each other before, but probably because they saw it coming long before he did. His grandma shook her head at him the first time he came home smelling like Kenma, the one time back in middle school, but she didn’t actually _say_ anything, and so that was that.

Tetsurou hasn’t really interacted with any other wolves outside his family in a long time. Sure, sometimes he’ll pass one on the street, but that’s pretty much it, as far as contact to other wolves goes. He doesn’t know any other werewolves his age; there are none in his neighbourhood and there haven’t been any in either of the schools he went to.

Werewolves are rare in Japan, and the few that live here usually live in the more rural areas, where there are long stretches of forest and plenty of opportunities to run and hunt and play. You barely ever meet any werewolves in a city like Tokyo. Tokyo is loud and cramped, there’s smog in the air that clogs up their noses, and it doesn’t really offer opportunities to shift and run.

Tetsurou has only had the opportunity to exercise in his shifted form on the visits to his aunts and uncles during full moons, since they moved to Tokyo, and sometimes it feels like his wolf is going crazy under his skin, growing restless, and he just wants to shift and flex his paws and _run_.

He understands why werewolves barely ever move here and so he doesn’t actually expect to meet any other weres his age, not really. What werewolf family would willingly let their child grow up without ample opportunity to shift, after all?

And then he meets Bokuto Koutarou.

They meet because their schools’ volleyball teams regularly practice together. Bokuto goes to Fukurodani Academy and is also a first year, just like Tetsurou.

The first time they meet, Tetsurou smells him from across the parking lot. Apparently, Bokuto also smells _him_ from across the parking lot, because only a few seconds later he comes barrelling into Tetsurou.

“Hey, hey, hey!” He shouts excitedly right into Tetsurou’s face, seeming very much like the excited puppy that he is.

“Uh, hey,” Tetsurou says, too surprised to react properly. The rest of Nekoma is staring at them with raised eyebrows, but then they just move on to the gym. Bokuto’s team, meanwhile, doesn’t even seem to be fazed; they’re probably used to this kind of behaviour from him, Tetsurou would guess.

“I’m Bokuto Koutarou and I’m going to be the best ace!” he tells Tetsurou excitedly.

“Kuroo Tetsurou,” he says, and adds, “I’m a middle blocker,” because it seems appropriate after the way Bokuto has introduced himself.

“That’s so cool! You’re the first wolf I’ve met here in Tokyo!” Bokuto is beaming at him excitedly, and Tetsurou is suddenly _very_ glad that his team didn’t decide to wait for him.

“Don’t just say that out loud!” he hisses, his eyes wandering around. There doesn’t appear to be anyone left sticking around except for the two of them, fortunately, but Tetsurou can’t believe Bokuto would just carelessly say something like this, _out in the open_.

“Sorry!” Bokuto says, lowering his voice. “It’s just that I’m really excited!” There seems to be a lot of energy coursing through him. He’s staring at Tetsurou with big, golden eyes, practically vibrating in place. If he were in his were form, his tail would _definitely_ be wagging. Tetsurou sighs and slowly calms down again.

Now that his immediate panic has subsided, Tetsurou has time to notice more about Bokuto than just his loud voice and immense amount of energy: He is tall, albeit a little shorter than Tetsurou, with a wide chest and strong arms, and his hair is – interesting, to say the least. It’s spiked up and the tips of it are grey and white. It looks a little like he is trying to imitate a horned owl with his haircut, which is strange and charming all at the same time.

“You’re also the first other wolf I’ve met in Tokyo,” Tetsurou offers, and Bokuto grins proudly and excitedly at him.

“That’s so cool! That definitely means we just have to become best buddies! Hey, wait, does that mean your mate is human?”

Tetsurou’s thoughts screech to a halt. “My mate?” he asks weakly.

“Yes?” Bokuto says, now sounding and looking a little confused. “You clearly wear their scent?”

That – oh. Tetsurou can’t believe he forgot about that. His face immediately heats up, and he’s sure he looks like an overly ripe tomato.

“That’s actually not my mate, just my best friend,” he says weakly.

“But then why would you scent-mark them?” Bokuto now looks even more confused. Before Tetsurou can come up with a good answer, though, his face lights up in understanding.

“Oh, is it because you love them? Are you trying to express your love this way? But how will they know if they’re a human, you can’t just scent-mark them, you have to tell them!” he says, all in one breath.

Tetsurou sighs.

“I don’t intend to tell him,” he starts saying, just to realize he just used male pronouns and stop dead in his tracks. He can’t believe he just _outed_ himself like that, and in front of a stranger, no less.

His hands start to get clammy, and a pit of nervousness opens up in his stomach. He’s never actually outed himself to anyone before – never really thought about his sexuality all that much, to be honest – and it’s _terrifying_.

Bokuto just barrels on ahead, though, not even stopping at the pronouns Tetsurou just threw out. “Why not? Why would you not tell him?”

“It’s not worth it,” Tetsurou says, relief spreading through him. There are definitely worse ways his first outing could have gone, he thinks, and it’s surprisingly nice to just have someone know and simply not care. He wasn’t aware how much he needed someone to know and accept it, until now.

“Can we please drop the topic?” Tetsurou adds, though, because for all the relief flooding him, he doesn’t actually want to talk about Kenma and the fact that he’s been scent-marking him.

Bokuto looks adorably lost and pouts a little.

“It’s cool to know another wolf,” Tetsurou says, just to bait him into focusing on something else, and that works like a charm. Bokuto immediately perks up.

“You have no idea! Oh! My parents have a second house just out of town and there’s like a nice forest right there, you should totally come there with me and go for a run at some point!”

Now Tetsurou is the one to perk up. “That sounds really good,” he says, letting himself imagine it. He can already feel what it’s going to be like to shift into his fur again, to stretch his limbs and just run, to let the wolf lead him, follow scent trails and roll around in the grass. He hasn’t gotten to let his wolf out and simply _run_ , not outside of full moon runs, and the mere prospect of being able to shift and run with another wolf is making him feel ecstatic, the previous topic forgotten next to the excitement of possibly getting to actually use his wolf form again.

“I know, right!” Bokuto grins, and then keeps chattering all the way to the gym. By the time Tetsurou arrives in the changing rooms, everyone else has already changed, but he’s way too excited about having met Bokuto to care.

He hadn’t quite realised how much he’s been missing out on, without other werewolves his age around, without the ability to shift and run, up until now.

Knowing Bokuto will change things, he’s pretty sure about that.

\--

Having Bokuto around does, indeed, change things.

The first big change is that for once, Tetsurou isn’t the possessive idiot.

When he tells Kenma that he’s met Bokuto and that he’ll spend the Sunday out of town at Bokuto’s parents’ second house instead of with him, Kenma completely shuts down on him.

His face just goes completely blank and he says “Oh” with such a bland tone of voice that Tetsurou nearly falls off the bed they’re sitting on in his sudden distress.

Usually, he always spends his Sundays with Kenma, he knows this. Outside of full moon weekends, there haven’t been any exceptions to this routine in the past eight years.

Tetsurou honestly hadn’t even thought about that when Bokuto invited him. He’d been too excited to go and get his wolf to stretch out. Now, looking at Kenma, he feels like he’s made a huge mistake, not considering their unspoken weekend plans. Obviously Kenma would take it as Tetsurou not wanting to spend time with him, when he’s never before so much as mentioned maybe wanting to do something else on his Sundays.

“I can stay here, if you’d like,” he immediately offers, but for some reason, that only makes Kenma shut down more.

“No, it’s fine, please enjoy yourself,” he says, his voice sounding completely monotone.

“I’m sorry!” Tetsurou whines. His insides feel like they’re being weighed down by lead. He has never heard Kenma use this tone of voice before and he never wants to hear it again. “Maybe you could come along?” That would completely defeat the purpose of going, seeing as Kenma has no clue at all that Tetsurou is a werewolf, but the thought of leaving Kenma alone and miserable is absolutely unbearable.

Tetsurou doesn’t _care_ if he doesn’t get to shift; yes, he misses it terribly and changing into his fur once a month just isn’t enough, but there’s really nothing in this world he cares more about than Kenma. He’ll be fine if he doesn’t get to shift if that means he doesn’t have to see the blank look on Kenma’s face ever again.

“Don’t be absurd, I don’t even like being outside,” Kenma tells Tetsurou, but there’s something more relaxed and quietly pleased about his tone of voice now, and Tetsurou exhales in relief.

“Please, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it,” he begs, pretty sure that’s what Kenma’s after, and Kenma rolls his eyes at him but says “You better keep that promise” and suddenly Tetsurou’s world is right again.

Well. Now he just has to tell Bokuto that he’s completely derailed their plans.

\--

Bokuto, surprisingly or maybe entirely unsurprisingly, is completely fine with that change of plans once he learns that he’ll get to meet Kenma. Despite Tetsurou’s protests, Bokuto has taken to referring to Kenma as Tetsurou’s mate when nobody’s around, so his excitement about meeting Kenma should probably ring a few alarm bells.

Kenma is a little bit apprehensive about meeting Bokuto and not really all that excited to spend an entire day outside with them, but he also seems to be unwilling to give up on his Sunday-Tetsurou-time and therefore refrains from whining while his mother makes the drive to Bokuto’s on Sunday – she had offered to drive them and pick them back up after Kenma had asked her, immediately excited about her son actually spending time outside of his own volition.

Tetsurou spends the entire drive basically vibrating in his seat because of excitement and a large amount of happiness – Kenma being so set on spending their Sundays together (even if he’d never actually admit it in those words) makes him feel dizzy with happiness and the butterflies in his stomach seem to have multiplied.

He still doesn’t know how he deserves this – Kenma. That he’s actually managed to become this important to Kenma seems like a fever dream on some days. Kenma is so perfect, in every conceivable way, intelligent and observant, incredibly good at the things he sets his mind to, and beautiful in a way that seems out of this world. There’s also a soft side to him, an empathetic, loving side.

Kenma doesn’t show his affection as exuberantly as Tetsurou does, but he’s steadfast in it and knows just how much to give. Every little thing he does simply because it will make Tetsurou happy feels like magic, and Tetsurou isn’t sure how he can ever show Kenma what he means to him, how he can ever give Kenma back the happiness he ignites in Tetsurou.

\--

Bokuto’s parents’ second house is in the middle of nature, even though it’s so close to Tokyo. There aren’t really any other houses around, but instead there are meadows and a huge forest that starts just behind it.

The house itself is small, more of a cottage, but it has a huge garden, and the minute Tetsurou sets sight on it he can feel his inner wolf howl in excitement. No wonder, then, that Bokuto loves coming here to run; the environment seems perfect to shift and just be a wolf for a while, and if Kenma wasn’t sitting next to him, he’d be running up to the front door, entirely too impatient to get his paws out.

As it is, he refrains himself. He hasn’t come here to shift, today, even though he would absolutely love to. He looks at Kenma next to him, already looking shy and tense, and is filled with so much love and adoration for him; his heart nearly overflows, and he thinks he would give up a thousand opportunities to shift into his fur for this boy right next to him.

They thank Kenma’s mother profusely for driving them and get out of the car.

They’ve barely made it to the front door when it opens and Bokuto stands before them, grinning widely at them. He’s probably heard them coming; Tetsurou thinks Bokuto could maybe work on his subtlety, since he’s not the best at acting like he doesn’t have supernaturally enhanced senses, but then again, people seldom see someone having really good hearing and go ‘I bet he’s a werewolf’.

“Kuroo!” Bokuto greats, bounding over to them in a few big steps and enveloping Tetsurou in a crushing hug, before letting go of him and turning to Kenma.

“Kenma!” he says happily, bestowing the next bone-crushing hug onto him.

“You must be Bokuto,” Kenma says, still looking a little bit tense.

“Yeah!” Bokuto grins excitedly. “It’s so cool that you came along!”

Kenma shrugs, but he lets himself be led into the house by an excitedly chattering Bokuto.

They unload their bags, and then Kenma inquires about the bathroom and leaves them for a minute. Bokuto immediately uses the opportunity to pierce Tetsurou with a stare.

“Bro,” he says. He sounds very serious, which _really_ isn’t a tone of voice Tetsurou associates with Bokuto. It instantaneously sets him on edge.

“What?” Tetsurou asks, a little defensively. He has an idea in which direction this is going, and if his idea is about to come true, then he seriously does not want to talk about this.

“He absolutely reeks of you!” Bokuto whispers, his voice unnaturally loud for all that he’s trying to whisper. “You should be happy my parents aren’t here right now or they would definitely have said something about it. I can’t believe you haven’t told him!”

“I told you, it’s not worth it,” Tetsurou growls. His fangs are threatening to come out a little and he has to concentrate really hard to hold them back; feeling cornered is never great to keep his wolf under control, and he’s feeling really cornered right now.

“Bro,” Bokuto says slowly, “he reeks of you. That means he willingly let you rub your scent all over him. I don’t think you have anything to fear.” He looks at Tetsurou with raised eyebrows.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tetsurou says through gritted teeth, looking for a way to end this conversation without giving into the urge to get his fangs and claws out and _threaten_.

Thankfully, that’s the moment Kenma comes back from the bathroom, and Bokuto at least has enough sensibility to refrain from talking about this in front of Kenma. He straightens up, acting as if he didn’t just corner Tetsurou and make him talk about his unrequited romantic feelings for his best friend.

He keeps sending Tetsurou looks all afternoon, though.

They mostly play volleyball, out in the garden, Kenma setting for the both of them, sometimes, and sometimes just setting for Bokuto while Tetsurou blocks. Bokuto is really good, which is actually really fun to block, but Kenma seems to have the most fun when Tetsurou is spiking instead of blocking Bokuto, for some reason; whenever Tetsurou spends too long just practicing his blocks with Bokuto, Kenma gets kind of a glum expression on his face.

At some point – Tetsurou’s once again blocking Bokuto – Kenma seems to have had enough exercise for the afternoon. Tetsurou has just complimented Bokuto on his spike – his spikes are beautiful, after all – and Kenma sighs deeply and says “I need a break”.

Usually, Tetsurou would just continue playing with Bokuto, but Kenma walks over to Tetsurou and tugs on his sleeve, tugging him along to one of the Bokutos’ garden benches, and Tetsurou has always been weak for Kenma, can’t do anything but follow along, not that he’d want to refuse.

Kenma wordlessly gestures for Tetsurou to sit down and he immediately complies. Kenma looks at him for a second, and then simply settles down in Tetsurou’s lap, resting his head on Tetsurou’s chest.

“You tired, Kitten?” Tetsurou asks softly and has to restrain himself really hard from reaching up to pet Kenma’s head. Kenma actually likes his head being pet and his hair being played with, but he only likes it when they’re alone. Tetsurou has a feeling that it’s not because he doesn’t like people knowing that he allows Tetsurou this, but because Kenma doesn’t want to give people the impression that it’s okay for them to touch his hair too.

Coincidentally, this actually works really well for Tetsurou, because he hates few things more than people who aren’t him (or Kenma’s family) touching Kenma.

“I told you not to call me Kitten,” Kenma grumbles, now, but he also nods slightly to confirm Tetsurou’s question.

Tetsurou has to supress the urge to coo at him that topples him over out of nowhere, simply because Kenma is looking unfairly cute. He feels like if he’ll look at Kenma, adorably curled up in his lap, for even a second longer, he might just combust.

He looks up at Bokuto instead, who is levelling him with a _very_ unimpressed stare. It’s sort of funny, because he has a somewhat fond expression on his face at the same time and looks a little bit like what they’re having is everything he’s ever wanted for himself – and they’re not even doing anything, Kenma is simply sitting in Tetsurou’s lap and resting.

Tetsurou has the feeling that Bokuto’s probably the sort of guy who believes in True Mates and likes to read werewolf romance novels. Not that Tetsurou can blame him, because he also kind of has a soft spot for werewolf romance novels (his grandmother actually has a few good ones in her bookshelf) and has always been too much of a romantic to dislike the idea of True Mates.

“You two look adorable,” Bokuto says, and just like that, Tetsurou starts to panic a little. He directs his gaze at Kenma, to check up on what expression he’s making, because he doesn’t want Bokuto’s comment to make Kenma feel self-conscious and put some distance between them, but Kenma looks – he actually looks quite self-satisfied?

Tetsurou has no idea what to make of that, but he feels relieved that Kenma makes no move to get away from him and relaxes again, but not before shooting Bokuto an angry look.

Bokuto just raises his eyebrows at him.

Tetsurou wonders how someone who’s so puppy-ish and overexcited and seems to make decisions with a majority of two braincells at all times can still be so aware of his surroundings.

He feels like he’ll have even more explaining to do once the day is over, which is definitely not what he was looking for.

At least Kenma seems happy, and that’s really Tetsurou’s main priority at any given moment.

\--

In the evening, Tetsurou gets bombarded with texts from Bokuto. Most of them are along the lines of _‘you should talk to him!!!_ ’. One very notable text says, _Bro, I’m like 200% sure he’s into you too_. Tetsurou deletes that particular text and shifts into a wolf so that he doesn’t have to read any more of them. He presses his snout into a pillow and mopes.

He wishes it were that easy.

But even if Kenma was into him – which Tetsurou is pretty sure he isn’t – there’s still the wolf thing.

That night is the first night he ever thinks about actually telling Kenma about his true nature – what Kenma would think, how he’d react. Tetsurou imagines Kenma being scared or disgusted, or maybe just hurt that Tetsurou would keep such a big secret from him, imagines Kenma distancing himself and leaving Tetsurou behind.

The thought is terrifying, and when Tetsurou drifts off to sleep, still shifted, he has a nightmare about being abandoned by Kenma, left alone somewhere in a busy city, the noises of cars and people too loud and disorienting around him, so much so that he loses his orientation until he just sits in the middle of a busy street and howls, screaming for Kenma to come back. But Kenma’s gone.

\--

Things are a little better and a little worse, after that.

A little better because Tetsurou can talk to Bokuto about things, whine to Bokuto about how hard it is to control his wolf around Kenma, and how much he misses living far outside the city, sometimes. Bokuto isn’t helpful when it comes to all things concerning Kenma – he still sticks by his opinion that Tetsurou should talk to Kenma – but he _is_ helpful when it comes to other were stuff.

He’s also overly excited and has the worst possible impulse control, which leads to hanging out with him always being a lot of fun. On top of that, Kenma also warms up to him slowly, which makes Tetsurou feel dizzyingly happy.

Things are a little worse because the nightmare of Kenma abandoning him becomes a fixture in his dreams, and the only nights he sleeps okay are the weekend nights, when he falls asleep curled around Kenma.

Tetsurou becomes even more clingy as a result of that, but Kenma doesn’t seem to mind – or at least he doesn’t call Tetsurou out on it – so all in all, it’s a situation he can deal with. He just needs to find a way to make sure Kenma never finds out about Tetsurou’s furry problem, and then he needs to find a way to make sure Kenma never leaves him behind, and he’ll be fine.

Probably.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally edited this thing. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out -- much as I said in in the notes about the first chapter, this isn't exactly my favourite thing I've written.  
> At least I don't hate it completely anymore, and at some point you've got to cut your losses and realize that not everything you write is going to be something you end up liking.  
> Like the first chapter, this has been proof-read by me only, so I apologize for any mistakes you may spot. 
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope you'll enjoy it a little more than I did!

For the most part, Tetsurou gets through his first year of high school unscathed. He even makes friends with another first year on the volleyball team, Yaku, which mostly happens because they like teasing each other and while Yaku will actually listen to some of Tetsurou’s monologues about Kenma, he also won’t hesitate to kick him until he shuts the fuck up.

Tetsurou also starts slowly forming a pack bond with Bokuto; it’s a pretty weak one, since the both of them don’t see each other enough for it to become a full-fledged thing, but it sets in nevertheless, and it’s something that Tetsurou enjoys quite a bit.

As a child he always found the idea of huge packs a little stressful, and whenever other wolves would talk about big packs being the best packs and the nice, warm and settling feeling of an expanding pack, he’d scrunch up his nose a little.

Because sure, he liked his pack, and he loved seeing his entire extended family and forming a big cuddle pile, but whenever someone talked about expanding packs, he immediately thought of having to deal with more strangers, and that really didn’t seem enjoyable.

Now he gets what the other wolves meant when they talked about it, though. There’s a certain feeling of security that comes with his pack expanding, even if it’s just a little bit, even if it’s just a weak pack bond with Bokuto, and it honestly feels really nice.

It feels like they’re family, in a way, solidifies their friendship and makes it feel like a long, lasting thing.

It’s a nice feeling, especially in contrast to the dreams of abandonment Tetsurou’s been having.

\--

There are several big things that happen in second year.

The first, of course, is that Kenma finally, _finally_ goes to the same school as Tetsurou again.

It’s such a relief to walk through the front door with him by his side that Tetsurou nearly kneels over and cries. Kenma luckily is still able to read him like a book, though, and immediately realizes that Tetsurou is being emotional. He simply tugs on his sleeve, guiding him to the side of the building and offers him a hug.

“You’re such a sap,” he tells Tetsurou, “I don’t know how I’m able to stand you at all.” Tetsurou laughs a little and relaxes into Kenma for a moment.

“Thanks,” he tells him then, earnestly.

“Whatever,” Kenma says, but there’s a fond warmth in his eyes, and Tetsurou feels dizzy with the love he has for him.

The butterflies stay with him all the way through his first class, which is definitely having a detrimental effect on his concentration, but he doesn’t mind it all that much.

Kenma and he are going to the same school, now, and that’s honestly all that he needs.

\--

Kenma being introduced to Yaku is kind of an ordeal. Well, an ordeal on Tetsurou’s nerves, that is.

When lunch break comes around, Tetsurou waits for Kenma in front of Kenma’s classroom and then walks him to the bench where Yaku and he usually sit to eat their lunch. Sometimes they get joined by Nobuyuki, usually they don’t. He’s not always in the mood for their bickering and his tolerance for Tetsurou’s rants about Kenma’s perfection only go so far.

Yaku is already there when they arrive, inspecting the contents of his bento. He looks up when Tetsurou and Kenma sit down and grins at them. There’s a twinkle in his eyes that doesn’t exactly promise good things, and Tetsurou is immediately apprehensive.

“Hello,” Yaku trillers. Tetsurou kicks him for good measure, but Yaku ignores him. Sometimes it’s unbelievable to Tetsurou how so many people see Yaku as a serious and polite guy. Yaku can be polite, that much is true, but he does have a penchant for mocking his friends – well, especially Tetsurou, actually. He’s usually nice to Nobuyuki. Tetsurou is a little envious of that, sometimes.

“Kenma, this is Yaku Morisuke,” Tetsurou introduces, sighing a little. “Yaku, this is Kozume Kenma.”

Yaku grins a truly unsettling grin and says, without missing a beat, “I’m so glad to finally meet your boyfriend, Kuroo!”

Tetsurou feels his soul leave his body. He kicks at Yaku again, a lot harder this time.

“He’s not my boyfriend, Yaku, he’s my best friend,” he says through gritted teeth, not daring to look at Kenma. And here he was excited for Kenma to go to the same school as him. He should have thought this through a lot better, introducing Kenma to Yaku. He should have known Yaku would take the opportunity to make Tetsurou’s life hell. He has no idea how people can see an angel in Yaku when he’s actually such a devil.

“Oh, sorry,” Yaku says, feigning an apologetic tone of voice. Tetsurou doesn’t buy it for one second. “It’s just, with the way you talk about him–”

“Yaku, shut up,” Tetsurou says, suddenly feeling very, very exhausted. He looks at Kenma, who’s got an unreadable expression on his face. It’s the first time in a long, long time that Tetsurou doesn’t know how to read him.

“Sorry, Kenma,” Tetsurou says, “Yaku likes being a troll.”

“Oh,” Kenma says, and then a hurt expression flashes over his face, so quickly that Tetsurou thinks he might have imagined it after all.

“I’m sorry,” Tetsurou repeats, softer, lowering his voice to a volume that makes it very obvious his words are only intended for Kenma, “I really wanted you to feel comfortable around my friends here. Yaku can be nice, he just likes to mock me, that’s all. I’m sorry if he made you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine,” Kenma reiterates, but there’s something weird about his tone of voice. Tetsurou can’t really make it out.

Tetsurou sighs and puts an arm around Kenma instinctually, just to make both of them feel more secure; having body contact usually tends to settle Kenma as much as it does Tetsurou, even though Kenma isn’t a werewolf and doesn’t have Tetsurou’s weird pack-instincts.

As soon as he realizes what he’s doing, though, he goes a little tense; Kenma doesn’t always like to be touched in public, and this may just worsen the situation, since Yaku calling Kenma Tetsurou’s boyfriend is what caused Kenma to feel uncomfortable in the first place.

Kenma just relaxes into him, though, Tetsurou’s arm around him seeming to have its usual grounding effect. Tetsurou lets out a little sigh of relief and wraps it a little tighter around Kenma, holding him close. Having Kenma close and secure under Tetsurou’s arm also puts his wolf instincts at ease, and he can feel himself relaxing a little as well.

He feels capable of looking away from Kenma again and shoots Yaku a very dirty look.

Yaku, however, is staring at him with raised eyebrows. His look says that he clearly thinks Tetsurou is an absolute idiot. It’s uncannily similar to the look Bokuto gave him when he saw Kenma climbing into Tetsurou’s lap.

Tetsurou thinks that maybe making any other friends than Kenma was a mistake after all.

But Yaku doesn’t comment on Tetsurou’s arm around Kenma’s shoulders, instead starting to talk about how much he hates his math teacher, and Tetsurou thinks maybe Yaku is acceptable. For now.

(Yaku does text Tetsurou later that day. His text simply says _You’re an even bigger idiot than I thought_. Tetsurou just sends him a picture of himself flipping Yaku off and then disables Yaku’s text notifications for good measure.)

\--

The second big thing that happens is Akaashi.

Tetsurou learns about Akaashi one week into the new school year, right after Akaashi signs up for Fukurodani’s volleyball team, because he gets a number of excited texts from Bokuto.

He’s just laying on Kenma’s bed, Kenma having pillowed his head on Tetsurou’s stomach and playing on his PSP, when his phone vibrates in rapid succession. Tetsurou sighs a little but still unlocks it to looks at the texts, seeing that they’re all from Bokuto. He sighs again, fondly this time, a smile playing at the corner of his lips, and opens his chat with Bokuto to start reading.

_Kuroo!!!!!!!!!!_

_Kuroo you have no idea what just happened!!!!!!!!_

_I think I found my true mate!!!!!!!_

_He just joined my volleyball team and he’s SO PRETTY and he’s also a werewolf!!!!_

_I MET ANOTHER WEREWOLF ISN’T THAT AMAZING. KUROO HE’S PERFECT_

_I made a complete fool of myself in front of him though :(_

_But that’s okay!!!! I can just be extra charming and sweep him off his feet next time!!!!!_

_Kuroo do you think it’s too early to court him??? How do I even court him properly???? I KNEW I should have asked my grandmother about this the last time we visited her!!!!_

Tetsurou stares at his phone for a second and then starts laughing.

His laughter is apparently enough to disrupt Kenma, who looks up at him from his PSP with a very dismayed expression.

“What is it?” he asks.

“Bokuto just fell in love,” Tetsurou tells him, grinning, “and now he’s an absolute mess. I’m going to have so much fun with this.”

“You’re such an asshole sometimes,” Kenma says, but there’s a little smile on his lips. He sounds absurdly happy, his tone of voice not really matching his words.

Tetsurou tries to pout at him but doesn’t really manage it, his face twisting into a grin. He _is_ going to have a lot of fun with this. He’s also going to be a good friend and help Bokuto a little bit. After all of the whining Bokuto’s been subjected to, it’s the least he can do.

\--

Tetsurou meets Akaashi on a Saturday; Nekoma, Fukurodani, Shinzen and Ubugawa have arranged several training matches over the course of the weekend.

He smells the presence of another were the moment he gets off the bus; Akaashi’s scent is not as prominent as Bokuto’s, but it’s obvious nevertheless.

As always, stepping off the bus gets him tackled by Bokuto just a few seconds later, the boy just as excited as always.

“Hi Kuroo! Hi Kenma!” he half-yells, practically vibrating with energy. Once again Tetsurou gets the impression that Bokuto definitely would be wagging his tail if he were shifted right now.

“Hi Bokkun!” Tetsurou grins, while Kenma simply gives Bokuto a short nod.

“You have to meet Akaashi!” Bokuto tells Tetsurou, his voice shaking from excitement, and starts tugging at Tetsurou’s sleeve.

Tetsurou grins but obliges, letting himself be tugged along by an excited Bokuto. He’s quite interested in meeting Akaashi, anyway; meeting another wolf is always intriguing, and he has to scope out the guy who Bokuto believes to be his true mate, after all, make sure he’s not going to hurt Bokuto.

Akaashi waits for them in front of the gym. He is, in fact, very pretty, with silky black hair and beautiful blue-grey eyes. He’s slender, a little bit smaller than Bokuto but still rather tall and definitely a good bit taller than Kenma.

His eyes zero in on Tetsurou immediately and he subtly sniffs the air, probably trying to pick up more clues about Tetsurou than just the fact he’s a werewolf. Tetsurou doesn’t really think about that until Akaashi speaks.

“I’m Akaashi Keiji,” he introduces himself, and then says, “you must be Kuroo-san, and you’re Kuroo-san’s boyfriend, I’m guessing?” His eyes focus on Kenma at the last part and Tetsurou wants to sink into the fucking ground. So Bokuto forgot to tell Akaashi about Tetsurou’s not-so-subtle scent-marking, then.

“That’s Kozume Kenma, my best friend,” Tetsurou sighs, thinking that he’s once again the cause of his own problems.

If he just stopped scent-marking Kenma, this wouldn’t have happened at all, but the mere thought of stopping is leaving a foul aftertaste in his mouth and making his stomach knot up unpleasantly.

He should have never gotten used to doing it in the first place.

“Oh?” Akaashi makes, looking at Tetsurou with narrowed eyes, his gaze clearly inquiring why he’s scent-marking someone he’s not in a relationship with, before he focuses on Kenma again.

“I apologize. Nice to meet you, Kozume-san.”

“Likewise,” Kenma says. He’s hiding a bit behind Tetsurou’s arm, but he’s looking at Akaashi with poorly concealed interest in his eyes. Tetsurou isn’t sure if it’s because of Akaashi’s assumption, if it’s because Akaashi is undoubtedly very pretty, or if he simply finds Akaashi intriguing.

He really, honestly hopes the cause of it isn’t Akaashi’s attractiveness, because if he has to watch Kenma be attracted to someone else, he might as well combust. His inner wolf _howls_ at the thought, and Tetsurou can feel his possessive side come out to counter-act the hollow feeling in his chest and stomach, instilling the desire in him tug Kenma closer, wrap himself around Kenma, tell Akaashi that Kenma is, in fact, his boyfriend and very much taken.

It’s a _stupid_ instinct and he hates himself for it.

He’s also pretty sure that his scent is leaking his jealousy all over the place, considering the look both Akaashi and Bokuto are shooting him. It’s embarrassing enough to have Tetsurou’s face heat up.

Werewolves can’t actually smell each other’s feelings, that’s a myth, but when they get particularly possessive or jealous, they tend to produce more pheromones to strengthen their scent and attract the object of their affection with said increased scent.

It’s also a thing that happens when a potential mate does something that a werewolf deems remarkably attractive, just to increase their own attractiveness in turn.

So while werewolves can’t exactly smell feelings, they _can_ smell possessiveness and attraction, in a way. Due to their increased senses they’re also usually very good at picking up little changes in body language, which does help with reading what someone’s feeling.

Basically, there’s going to be no doubt left in Akaashi that Tetsurou is head over heels for Kenma at the end of the day, if his scent-marking didn’t already make that painfully obvious. He and Bokuto will have a free show to Tetsurou being a pining fool for his uninterested best friend, and it’s going to be embarrassing. That’s one of the downsides of being around other weres.

Then again, Tetsurou will be able to watch Bokuto be a pining fool over Akaashi, so at least the playing field is somewhat evened.

And he is definitely going to observe Akaashi as best he can, just to see if he can pick up on clues about whether Akaashi might return Bokuto’s feelings.

\--

At the end of the day, two things are very clear.

The first is that Bokuto is so into Akaashi it’s almost painful to witness, constantly vying for his attention, showing off for him and leaking his scent all over the place every time Akaashi moves at all on the court.

The second thing is that Akaashi may not be as obvious about it – in fact, Tetsurou’s pretty sure most humans wouldn’t pick up on it at all – but he’s definitely just as into Bokuto. He keeps following him with sharp eyes, cataloguing every one of his movements, indulges Bokuto’s vying for attention and praise quite a bit, and he also keeps leaking increased amounts of his scent in reaction to Bokuto. It’s usually when Bokuto hits a spike that Akaashi’s scent gets so strong Tetsurou’s sure it can be smelled kilometres away. It also happens when Bokuto pierces Akaashi with his eyes and screams a drawn-out abomination that only _vaguely_ resembles Akaashi’s name at him.

Tetsurou’s honestly relieved to witness it, because Bokuto definitely needs someone who not only knows how to handle him, but also appreciates his energy and excitement. He hadn’t taken Akaashi for the type when he’d first set eyes on him, due to his calm demeanour and polite way of talking, but it seems Akaashi is exactly the right person to cherish Bokuto and balance him out.

He’s also relieved because with Akaashi and Bokuto being so focused on each other, they’ll have considerably less time to grill Tetsurou on his Kenma-situation, which he would very much like to avoid talking about. He is not in the mood to explain why he keeps scent-marking his best friend to Akaashi.

\--

He’d kind of hoped that he’d be able to avoid the conversation about Kenma entirely when Akaashi and Bokuto let him go home without accosting him about it, but he should have known that things just aren’t that easy for him.

So of course he gets a request for a videocall conference with Bokuto and Akaashi as soon as he’s gotten himself comfortably settled on his bed, ready to bury himself in a nice book. He’d _known_ it was a bad idea to exchange numbers with Akaashi, that it might lead to something light this, but he could not, in good conscience, _not_ exchange numbers with the other wolf.

He sighs a little and seriously ponders whether or not he should accept the call, but then decides that they’ll corner him for this talk sooner or later so it’s probably best to get it over with.

Sighing, he accepts the call, sitting up a little bit straighter on his bed.

“Hey hey hey!” Bokuto says loudly and happily through the speakers. He appears to be seated on his bed as well, but he’s holding his phone very close, his face taking up the entire screen.

Akaashi seems to have his phone propped up in front of him instead of holding it, his posture quite straightened out. He’s so different from Bokuto and Tetsurou, so different from most werewolves Tetsurou’s met, actually. Well, except for the part where he’s overtly nosy; that’s something all werewolves Tetsurou’s met so far have in common. It’s possibly just what happens if you have strong senses and pick up on things more easily than others – you start developing a certain interest in actually knowing what’s going on at all times.

“Hey Bokkun, hey Akaashi,” Tetsurou greets, trying to sound enthusiastic. He’s pretty sure he doesn’t succeed – there’s probably apprehension written all over his face.

“We’re calling about Kozume-san,” Akaashi says, cutting right to the chase. So no small-talk then. Great. Tetsurou didn’t really expect any, but he’d _hoped_ he’d get at least few more minutes to settle himself.

“I’ve already explained the scent-marking thing to Bo at length, there’s really no reason to go over it again,” Tetsurou says, trying to wiggle out of the conversation somehow. He doubts this will work, but it’s always worth a shot.

“It’s not about the scent-marking,” Akaashi says calmly.

“What,” Tetsurou says. He blinks. But then what –

“We think you should tell him you’re a werewolf!” Bokuto says enthusiastically, and, judging from the look of frustration on Akaashi’s face, completely derailing the plan Akaashi had come up with to bring this up a little bit more gently.

“ _What_.” Tetsurou says. He knows he’s gaping and staring now, but what the actual _fuck_ is going on.

“Why!” he says, sounding a little desperate and very confused, exactly the way he feels. “There’s no good reason for this! Are you guys insane? I know I’m not the only one having been brought up informed about the dangers of humans knowing–”

“Kuroo-san,” Akaashi interrupts him. He sounds very gentle, in a way that makes Tetsurou’s hackles raise. “I’ve only seen the two of you interact for a few hours and even I am certain that Kozume-san would never willingly put you in danger.”

“Even then – even then,” Tetsurou sputters. He knows they’re right – he also doesn’t think Kenma would ever put him in danger, no matter how he reacts to that confession. But it’s still not worth the risk of Kenma hating him for it or being afraid, of Kenma putting some distance between them – the mere thought makes his inner wolf whine at a frequency that makes a whine slip out of Tetsurou’s throat, a pained, fearful thing.

Bokuto and Akaashi immediately sit up straighter, Bokuto looking a little bit frantic at the distress Tetsurou’s showing. Seeing another wolf in distress is always distressing to oneself, even more so if said wolf has a pack bond to you, no matter how weak.

Tetsurou’s probably pushing every alarm button Bokuto owns right now.

“Kuroo-san,” Akaashi says. His voice is soft and soothing, as if he were speaking to a panicked child. Tetsurou absolutely hates it.

“No,” he growls. “I’m not doing that. And we’re not talking about this. It’s dangerous and simply not worth it.”

“Kuroo-san,” Akaashi says again. Bokuto stills looks frantic and distressed.

“No,” Tetsurou reiterates and hangs up. Because the scent-marking thing – that’s something he’s had practice explaining. That’s a conversation he can talk his way out of, a conversation he’s used to having, no matter how much it upsets him.

Coming out as a werewolf to Kenma, though – that’s an entirely too terrifying thought. It’s something he’s never once let himself imagine going well, and he tries to avoid thinking about it at all cost.

Kenma will never know about it. Kenma can’t know about it. Because Tetsurou will not put his heart on the line to be broken like this. He can’t.

\--

Tetsurou feels absolutely atrocious the next morning. He’d try to put it lightly, but that _is_ putting it lightly. He spent the majority of the night tossing and turning, his thoughts running wild, unable to fall asleep, and when he did finally fall asleep, it was to another one of his nightmares about Kenma abandoning him. Only this time Tetsurou had been a wolf all throughout the dream, and when he broke down and starting howling, people stopped to stare and snicker at him, made comments out what a disgusting beast he is.

The dream is still heavy on his mind when he and Kenma start walking to school together.

It’s weird, in a way; Tetsurou has never once felt insecure about or disliked being a wolf outside of the context of his feelings for Kenma. With him liking Kenma, though, it’s different – mainly because Kenma is perfect in so many ways and Tetsurou isn’t even a good enough friend to be completely honest with him, has not one, but two huge secrets he’s keeping from Kenma.

He stares at the pavement while they’re walking, not looking at Kenma; usually, he always looks at Kenma but today he doesn’t think he can, not with how raw and unsettled he’s feeling. He’s scared that if he looks at Kenma, Kenma will leave, just like he does in Tetsurou’s nightmares, and he’s well aware that that’s absurd, but it _feels_ real, to him.

So he just try to act as if everything’s fine, all the while avoiding looking at Kenma, hoping that Kenma won’t notice.

Obviously, Kenma notices.

And as always, he seems to know exactly what Tetsurou needs. He just stops in the middle of their way to school and pulls Tetsurou to the side so that they’re not blocking the way for anyone who might frequent the same path at six in the morning.

Tetsurou would look at Kenma questioningly or straight up ask him what he’s doing, but he’s still terrified of Kenma disappearing if he looks at or addresses him, so he doesn’t.

Kenma just sighs and then simply presses himself against Tetsurou’s chest, taking Tetsurou’s arms and arranging them so that they’re wound around him before snaking his own arms around Tetsurou’s waist.

It startles Tetsurou a little, and he finally allows himself to look at Kenma. Kenma, who has just tugged Tetsurou to the side and arranged him into a hug as if it’s no big deal, for some reason knowing exactly that this is what he needs right now. (And it is what he needs right now – Kenma close, a familiar pressure against him, safe and secure in his arms.) Kenma, who, instead of questioning why Tetsurou doesn’t ask for the hug he so obviously needs, simply took matters into his own hands as if it were the most natural thing in the world. (And maybe it is, for him.)

Tetsurou breathes out a sigh and strengthens his hold on Kenma, pressing him even closer. He buries his face into Kenma’s hair and hopes that the wetness he can feel building in his eyes won’t come out as tears.

“We’re going to be late for practice,” he says, making no move to untangle himself from Kenma.

“We don’t actually need to attend morning practice,” Kenma reminds him.

“ _I_ do, if I want to make captain next year,” Tetsurou mumbles into Kenma’s hair.

“You can allow yourself a day off,” Kenma says, something resolute in his voice, and Tetsurou sighs and relaxes into him.

They stand like that for several minutes, Tetsurou just holding Kenma, breathing in the smell of his hair – it smells like the apple-scented shampoo he always uses, a really expensive one that Tetsurou had bought him once because he wanted Kenma to take better care of his beautiful hair and that Kenma has been using solely ever since, making Tetsurou feel warm and fuzzy every time he smells it on him.

“What’s bothering you, today?” Kenma asks at some point, his voice soft and quiet in a way that lets Tetsurou know he doesn’t expect him to answer if he doesn’t want to.

Tetsurou sighs but does answer. “I had a nightmare,” he tells Kenma. In front of anyone else he would try to justify himself, add on an ‘I know it’s silly to be this shaken up about a nightmare’. With Kenma, he doesn’t. As much as Kenma likes to mock him and rile him up, he’d never mock him about something important, make fun of something Tetsurou is shaken up about.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Kenma asks instead, rubbing soothing circles into Tetsurou’s back. Tetsurou sighs again. He’s not sure if he wants to tell Kenma this – he couldn’t tell Kenma the entirety of it, anyway, and he’d never be able to explain to him where this dream is coming from.

“Not really,” he settles on. Kenma just hums, accepting this, and Tetsurou holds him a little bit closer.

\--

Nothing really changes, after that. Tetsurou still has nightmares, Kenma still doesn’t know his two biggest secrets and Akaashi and Bokuto keep trying to convince him to do something about at least one of those secrets while failing to do something about the tension between themselves.

Tetsurou also still hasn’t gotten to visit Bokuto’s parents’ house outside of town without Kenma; after the distress it had caused Kenma the first time, he simply thinks it better to push that off for now.

Therefore, everything stays much the same.

And then Kenma gets sick.

It’s not really a big deal; Kenma just has a cold and is better off holed up at home than in school, that’s all. But, out of consideration for Tetsurou’s physical-well-being, Kenma’s parents basically forbid him from visiting Kenma while he’s ill.

It is, simply put, horrible.

Because here’s the thing: Tetsurou has gotten used to seeing Kenma on a daily basis. Even when Kenma’s sick, he usually still comes around, feeding Kenma soup and watching him sleep – as creepy as that sounds, Kenma simply sleeps better with Tetsurou there and Tetsurou just feels more comfortable when he knows that Kenma’s doing well.

This time, though, Kenma’s parents put their foot down. It’s probably because the last time Kenma was sick, he ended up infecting Tetsurou with his illness.

Tetsurou still maintains that it’s stupid werewolves even get sick at all; in fantasy novels, werewolves always have these super-healing powers and are immune to illnesses. Well, that’s not how it is in real life, sadly. While werewolves do heal faster than most humans and most terminal illnesses aren’t actually terminal for them, they still _can_ get sick and do so as often as would a human. They get well a lot quicker than most humans; the last time Tetsurou caught a cold – it was the one he caught off of Kenma – he had the thing done with in no more than two days, and on the second day he was mostly alright again already, save for some light sniffling.

Because it happened at all, though, Kenma’s parents maintain that Tetsurou should just not come over until Kenma’s doing better, which would sound like a sensible and very much doable approach to anyone else, but Tetsurou is, well, a werewolf. And Kenma is his pack, their pack bond strengthened through years of close proximity.

For humans, their relationship would probably seem very co-dependent, and it possibly is, in a way; but for werewolves, this is nothing out of the ordinary. Pack is supposed to be _close_ ; you don’t form strong pack bonds with someone unless you live together or form a mating bond first – in which case living together usually follows. And to keep the pack bond happy and satiated, you need to _stay_ close.

That’s why most werewolves don’t travel alone if it can be helped at all; not having your pack around you is a horrible, hollow feeling, one that most werewolves avoid at all cost. Werewolves aren’t _meant_ to be alone – from a purely biological, instinctual point of view, it doesn’t make _sense_ to be alone; solitude is dangerous, whereas a strong pack offers security.

Which is to say: Tetsurou doesn’t deal well with being separated from Kenma _at all_.

There’s also a full moon coming up, which means Tetsurou’s instincts are particularly strong at the moment. That certainly isn’t helping.

\--

By Wednesday, Tetsurou has not seen Kenma for two days _and_ there’s only one day left until the full moon. This means the full moon falls on a Thursday this month, therefore his family will be staying at home. They’ll probably just shift and curl up into a big cuddling pile in the living room, the way they usually do when the full moon falls on a weekday.

Tetsurou wishes he could at least go out and _run_ this full moon, get some of this restless energy out of him that’s been simmering the past two days.

He feels like he’s slowly but surely going insane.

“You’re stressing me out,” Yaku complains that day during afternoon practice. “I know you miss Kenma, but could you _please_ calm down?”

Tetsurou is about two seconds away from growling at him, but somehow keeps himself from doing so.

“Why are you even this stressed about it?” Nobuyuki asks, sounding genuinely curious. “It’s only a cold, and he’ll probably be fine to hang out with you again in a few days.”

“You poor, misguided, innocent soul,” Yaku says, which _does_ prompt Tetsurou to growl at him. He keeps his fangs from popping out, though, which he considers a success; that he actually has to put effort into reigning himself in should possibly concern him, but they’re close to a full moon and he misses Kenma, so he personally thinks it could be a lot worse.

Nobuyuki looks a little confused. “I know Kuroo is in love with him, but it _has_ only been two days,” he reiterates.

Tetsurou thinks about denying the accusation, maybe, but he knows it’s pointless. At this point, the entire volleyball team knows that he’s in love with Kenma, Kenma himself being the only exception. He’s not particularly good at hiding it. He settles on simply growling some more and stalks off, firmly ignoring Yaku’s exasperated “Maybe if he were to finally _do_ something about that, he wouldn’t be stressing us out” which is just wrong in so many ways.

\--

On Thursday, Tetsurou doesn’t go to school. He doesn’t feel like he should: his entire body is vibrating with nervous energy as soon as he wakes up, his wolf clawing under his skin to get out, every single one of his instincts on edge from not having seen Kenma for three days. It’s a little absurd, how badly this is getting to him, but he knows that trying to ignore the way he’s feeling won’t lead to anything good.

So he goes to ask his grandmother to stay home – his father is already off to work, like always – but he doesn’t even get as far as asking.

She takes one look at him, sighs and says: “Shift. I’ll make you some breakfast.”

He does, immediately feeling a little more at ease when he can feel fur wrapping his body, his joints and bones cracking as they change, take on a different form, one that feels more familiar and comfortable than his human one. There is, however, still a nervous energy thrumming through him. The painful feeling of Kenma being too far away stays as well, despite Kenma being right in the house next to theirs, which is, objectively, quite close. It doesn’t _feel_ close.

Tetsurou’s grandmother makes him some breakfast fit for a wolf: loads of meat and sausage and some eggs. It feels like exactly the right thing for his body, comforting him a little bit. He pushes the human part of himself back somewhat, letting his wolf take the forefront, focusing on his sense of smell and taste as he wolfs down the meal.

Tetsurou knows most people think it weird that his grandparents live with his father and him, but he thinks he would like it, even if he weren’t a werewolf and they his pack. Especially with his father working so much, having his grandparents around is nice.

As a wolf, there’s also the plus side of his grandparents not only being pack, but also a lot more knowledgeable about werewolf society and instincts. His grandmother seems to always know what his inner wolf needs, and there’s something ancient and mystical about her sometimes that he can’t explain. She has always appeared to be more in tune with her inner wolf than her human side, and in moments like these, that’s exactly what Tetsurou needs.

After breakfast his grandmother shifts too, and they end up laying down on the living room rug, simply getting some pack cuddles in. There’s still the persistent ache of Kenma being too far away in Tetsurou’s bones, but he already feels a little bit better; having some close pack contact, being in his wolf form.

\--

Tetsurou manages quite well for most of the day, spending the majority of it cuddling with his grandparents. At some point his grandfather plays a game of tug with him, managing to burn off some of the energy running through Tetsurou.

Tetsurou loves playing tug, in all honesty; if he thought he could get away with it, he would definitely try to go to the park as a wolf, carrying some rope tug toy, trying to get the local dogs to play a game of tug with him. Since he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t get away with that, though, he’s never tried, and so he doesn’t really get to play tug all that often – his father never had an affinity for it and his grandparents don’t have the energy. They did, however, play with him a lot when he was still a little pup.

Maybe he’ll get to play tug with Bokuto or Akaashi at some point; he’s pretty sure that at least Bokuto would show a lot of excitement for it.

Tetsurou also loves playing fetch, which is another thing he doesn’t really get to do – it’s on the list of werewolf urges he’d love to live out, right after ‘chasing after squirrels’. In his childhood home, they had a nice garden, big and secluded enough for his grandparents to throw some balls for him; he hasn’t gotten to play a game of fetch since they moved, though. It’s a little frustrating, enough so that sometimes, when he sees Kenma holding a volleyball, he feels the urge to just shift into his wolf skin, throw himself onto the ground in front of Kenma and beg him to throw said ball for him, which would be more than just a little humiliating.

Right now, though, he thinks not even a good game of fetch could settle him. If it was with Kenma, then yes, definitely, because Kenma is the reason for the nervous, tense energy thrumming under his skin, but if someone else were to try and ground him this way, they could probably play with him to the point of utter exhaustion and he’d still feel on edge.

It’s absurd, how strong this longing for Kenma is; even the pack bonds with his family don’t feel like that, and he has no logical explanation for it. There shouldn’t be this much of a difference in pack bonds that are based on a similar level of physical proximity; that would only make sense if they weren’t the same type of bond, and they _can’t_ be different bonds, because the only types of bonds there are are pack and mating bonds – and there’s no way that he has a mating bond with Kenma. He doesn’t even think it’s _possible_ to form a mating bond with a human.

Which simply leaves him where he is now: uncomfortable, on edge, without any logical explanation for why he’s feeling this anguished. It’s at least partially due to the full moon, but that doesn’t explain the rest of it.

The unsettling feeling in his bones seems to worsen with every passing hour, and it’s stressing him out.

\--

By the time nightfall comes around, Tetsurou is completely tensed up and viscerally unhappy. Even cuddling with his pack isn’t helping at this point. In fact, it’s starting to feel as if contact that isn’t with Kenma is just making the longing worse. He’s about ready to jump out of his skin.

Which is why he ends up excusing himself, trotting up the stairs to his room, settling himself on his bed. His window is open, and from where he’s sitting, he has a nice view of the moon. It’s nice, looking at the moon: it’s one of the things he likes to do most when he needs to stay inside on a full moon.

It also reminds him a bit of what he’s missing; he can neither run nor howl here, which means he’s ignoring his most basic instincts. It isn’t a good feeling.

But usually, looking at the moon calms him a bit, makes him feel more settled.

Tonight, however, that isn’t the case; the more he looks at the moon, the more restless he grows. He feels like he needs to do _something_. He’s not entirely sure what it is his body is yelling at him to do, only that there’s a growing franticness in his bones that he can’t seem to stop and then –

One moment he’s still sitting on his bed, his paws and tail twitching, the next moment he’s up and jumping in a clean arc out of the window, gracefully landing on all four paws. The night air feels nice on his body, cooling him down a bit, but that’s not what he had in mind, what he had in mind is –

His body is moving again without Tetsurou having all that much say. He’s being led by his instincts; a werewolf’s instincts are a lot stronger on full moon nights and a lot of young wolves have problems with not becoming overwhelmed and losing themselves in them a little, letting the animalistic part of them take the reins. Tetsurou hasn’t lost himself in his instincts in a long time, but right now they’re the only thing guiding him, the rational part of his brain completely pushed back. There’s a panic further back in his mind, something telling him that what he’s doing is dangerous, that he can’t leave the house like this, but it doesn’t seem particularly relevant to him right now, not with his body finally getting closer to its goal.

He still doesn’t know what said goal is, but then he’s jumping again, his claws finding purchase on a windowsill, and he’s.

Oh.

He’s standing in Kenma’s room, having come through the window, which Kenma likes to keep open at night, staring at Kenma’s form, mostly hidden under a blanket.

It’s around midnight and he’s in luck, because Kenma is sleeping. Tetsurou can smell the sickness on him, but he can also smell _Kenma_ , this scent that is purely him, and while there’s a voice in the back of his mind freaking out, telling him to leave _right now_ , that he’s doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous, the rest of him finally is starting to feel settled, for the first time since Monday.

Carefully, so as to no wake Kenma, he climbs onto the bed and rolls up by Kenma’s feet, letting his snout rest against them, and finally relaxes.

\--

The first thing that Tetsurou notices upon waking up is that he feels warm and comfortable. There’s Kenma’s scent in his nose, strong and secure, almost as if he were right next to Kenma.

He stretches a little, flexing his paws, popping his back, and yawns, before lazily opening his eyes and – being so shocked that he promptly falls off the bed. Off _Kenma’s_ bed.

Because that’s where he was. On Kenma’s bed. In his _wolf_ form, which he’s currently still in.

The memories of the last night come rushing back, and Tetsurou wants to curse. Very loudly. He can’t actually curse with a snout, though.

He feels frantic – he really needs to come up with a plan to get out of this. Leaving in broad daylight as a wolf is dangerous, but he didn’t bring clothes to change into and any additional second that he stays here to rummage through Kenma’s clothes is only going to heighten his chances of being found out.

He’s kind of panicking, frozen, staring at the foot of Kenma’s bed, the place he had curled up in, when he hears some rustling.

His eyes shoot to where the noise is coming from, and then they meet Kenma’s. Kenma’s eyes, very much open and awake, staring at him with a mixture of fear and confusion.

Kenma still looks sleepy, his hair tousled, but there’s a tenseness in his shoulders speaking of the same fear Tetsurou can read in his eyes, and he doesn’t think, he just acts. If there’s one thing he never wants to see, it’s Kenma being afraid, and he shifts.

“What the fuck,” Kenma says, and then Tetsurou’s panic sets in again, twice as strong.

He can’t believe he just – why did he _do_ that, he should have just left through the window, not shift, now Kenma _knows_ , Kenma has seen him as a _wolf_ and Kenma is going to never want to see him ever again –

“What is going _on_ ,” Kenma says, and then, more directed towards himself, “Is this a fever dream? Do I have a fever right now?”

Tetsurou wants to die. He’s also suddenly very aware that he’s naked. If he’s about to have the conversation that will cost him his best friend, he thinks he should at least have some clothes on for that.

“Kenma,” he says, quietly and miserably, “do you have some clothes for me?”

Kenma lets out a half-hysterical wheezing sound at that, but he does get out of his bed and shuffle over to his wardrobe, throwing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie over to Tetsurou after a brief period of rummaging, before shuffling back to his bed and sitting down.

Tetsurou dresses quickly. The clothes fit him surprisingly well, and after a second, he realizes it’s because they’re his. Huh. He wasn’t aware he had left that particular hoodie at Kenma’s.

“Not a fever dream, then?” Kenma says. Tetsurou decidedly does not look at him.

“Not a fever dream,” he confirms.

“What the fuck,” Kenma says, but quiets after that.

“I’m a werewolf,” Tetsurou says, and he hears Kenma mutter another quiet ‘what the fuck’ under his breath.

“I know that’s a little – much. But uhm. Werewolves exist? And I am one? Which basically means that I can … shift into a wolf,” He says and winces. This is probably the worst possible explanation he could be giving. He never planned on having to explain this at all, though, and certainly not in these circumstances, so now that he has to, he suddenly feels incapable of stringing intelligent-sounding sentences together.

“I have to shift on full moons and apart from that I can, if I want to,” he elaborates, not particularly feeling like he’s making this any better.

“Okay,” Kenma says, and takes a few deep breaths in and out. “Sorry, I’m a little dizzy. I think that’s just the cold, though,” he adds and Tetsurou winces again. He can’t believe they’re having this conversation while Kenma is sick. He can’t believe he _broke into Kenma’s room_ and is now having this conversation with him _while Kenma is_ _sick_. He honestly just wants to make Kenma go back to sleep and take care of him. He’s beyond angry at himself for making Kenma deal with this at all, let alone when he’s got a cold. He’s also still absolutely terrified.

He just sits on the ground for a little, watches Kenma take deep breaths in and out, and then Kenma sighs and looks at Tetsurou again.

“So. A werewolf,” he says. He looks like his entire world has just been turned upside down, which is fair, because in all honesty, it probably has.

“Yes,” Tetsurou says. He looks away and winces again. _This is it_ , he thinks. _This is the moment Kenma is going to tell me to get the fuck out._

“I honestly would not have believed you if I hadn’t seen you shift with my own eyes, but it – makes sense,” Kenma says, sounding a little disbelieving that he’s actually saying this. And – _what_. That is _not_ what Tetsurou expected. He whips his head up to stare at Kenma again.

“It makes sense?” he says a little shrilly.

“Yes?” Kenma says. “Now that I look at it?”

“I just told you that werewolves exist and your reaction is that it _makes sense_ ,” Tetsurou says. He feels like he’s losing it.

“I’m not saying werewolves in general make sense,” Kenma says, shrugging. “But you being one does.”

Tetsurou wheezes.

“What, what did you expect me to say?” Kenma asks.

“Something like ‘Leave’,” Tetsurou mutters.

“You thought I’d tell you to _leave?_ ” Kenma sounds agitated, now. “Kuro, I could never.” He interrupts himself with a cough, then, and Tetsurou immediately feels like an asshole again. Kenma is _sick_. Kenma should be sleeping, not worrying about _werewolves_.

He also feels lighter than he has in years. Because he told Kenma and Kenma – doesn’t care. He doesn’t want Tetsurou to leave.

“Come here,” Kenma says. His voice is rough from coughing but also soft, and Tetsurou is suddenly aching with the need to get as close to him as possible, so he complies, sitting down next to Kenma gingerly.

“You know what, no. Lay down,” Kenma says, crawling properly back into bed and under his covers himself. Tetsurou follows, crawling under his blanket with him, squeezing himself into the tight space between Kenma and the edge of his small bed, the way he usually would on weekends, when he sleeps over. Kenma lets out a sigh of relief and curls into Tetsurou’s body, pillowing his head on Tetsurou’s chest.

“We’re talking more about this later,” he murmurs quietly, “but right now I just want to sleep.”

“You’re also going to sleep later,” Tetsurou says, “since you’re still sick, Kenma. We can talk about this once you’re feeling better.”

“Look at you, back in mother-hen mode,” Kenma snorts, but he cuddles in even closer and soon enough, his breathing evens out. Tetsurou looks at him fondly, feeling so relieved he could cry with it. He can’t believe that Kenma _accepts_ him. He can’t believe that Kenma still wants him close. And he can’t believe that he’s finally holding Kenma again; the past four days have felt like an eternity.

Slowly, sleep pulls him under as well.

\--

He gets awoken by someone shaking his shoulder.

He slowly blinks his eyes open, and stares right into Kenma’s mother’s displeased face.

“I really shouldn’t be surprised,” she says, “but Tetsu-kun, do I need to remind you that you have _school_ today?”

“Uhm,” Tetsurou says, needing a moment to get his bearings, before he realizes that he’s in Kenma’s bed, with Kenma happily snuggled up to him, on a Friday, which means yes, he very much has school today. He frantically turns his head to look at the clock on Kenma’s nightstand and lets out a horrified sound at the time. It’s already a little after nine, which means he not only missed morning practice but also his first class, and if he doesn’t hurry up right now, he will definitely miss his second one as well.

“Oh no,” he says, sitting up so quickly it makes him a little dizzy. Kenma, still asleep, makes a displeased sound at being knocked off Tetsurou, and curls closer to where Tetsurou’s sitting, trying to close the new gap between them.

Kenma’s mother looks a little bit fondly at her son and sighs, then. “I should have known that telling you to stay away would result in you sneaking in,” she says. “He has been kind of unbearable without you around, though.”

“He has?” Tetsurou asks, surprised, unable to keep the pleased tone out of his voice.

Kenma’s mother shoots him a fond look as well but rolls her eyes at him all the same, the same way Kenma tends to do. There’s a lot of family resemblance between the two of them. “Yes, he has. Well, now that the damage is done, you may as well come over this afternoon again. But right now, you _really_ need to go to school.”

“Uhm, yes,” Tetsurou says, and gets up. Getting away from Kenma, when he’s only just started getting the closeness he so desperately needs, feels terribly wrong but the knowledge that he’s allowed to come back after school helps a lot.

Now he just has to either sneak back into his own house undetected through his window and then sneak out without his grandparents noticing or face them and tell them what he’s been up to. The second option seems considerably worse, so he hopes he’ll be able to pull off the first one.

\--

Tetsurou actually manages to sneak into his room, get ready for school and sneak back out without his grandparents noticing. The only reason he does, though, is because they’re not at home; otherwise he’s pretty sure their hearing would have detected him before he’d even managed to get into the room.

He also manages to get to school in time for his second class, which he counts as a huge success.

He is, however, not really able to pay proper attention in class; his mind keeps wandering to Kenma. He still can’t believe Kenma is okay with him being a werewolf. It feels surreal – all this time he’s spent thinking he would lose Kenma entirely if he ever found out, just for Kenma to say that it _makes sense_.

He’s pretty sure Bokuto and Akaashi are going to be insufferable about this; still, he can’t wait to text them during lunch break to tell them. He needs them to join in his excitement – needs _someone_ at all to join in his excitement, actually, and they’re the only choice.

He also needs to ask them if it’s okay if he tells Kenma about them, too; he’s pretty sure Kenma is going to figure it out either way, now that he knows about werewolves, but he wants to actually be allowed to answer Kenma when he asks.

\--

“So, werewolves,” Kenma says that afternoon, when Tetsurou’s finally with him again. Most of the day had been nearly intolerable to get through – he’d just wanted to be back at Kenma’s side, and not even afternoon practice had been enough to hold his interest. Although he’d had a very nice phone conversation with Bokuto, which only included Bokuto screaming ‘I knew it’d be fine!’ into his ear three times.

“Werewolves,” Tetsurou says, and Kenma lets out an amused little snort. They’re sitting on his bed, Tetsurou’s back against the wall, Kenma comfortably in his lap, his back leaning against Tetsurou’s chest, Tetsurou’s arms around him. It makes Tetsurou feel incredibly at ease, to sit with Kenma like this. The fact that Kenma still trusts Tetsurou enough to sit like this, even now that he _knows_ , feels inconceivable, and yet it’s the truth. If he were shifted, his tail would definitely be lazily wagging.

“That’s why you wanted to spend that weekend at Bokuto’s parents house, huh? To run around as a wolf there?” Kenma asks, which is not what Tetsurou expected at all.

“I – yes. How did you know?”

“It makes sense now, looking back,” Kenma shrugs. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to do it because you took me along,” he adds, sounding regretful and apologetic.

“Doesn’t matter,” Tetsurou says, nuzzling into his hair, holding him a little closer. “We had a great time with you.”

“I’d love to see you in wolf form again,” Kenma says. “Not necessarily now, but at some point. I didn’t get a good look at you this morning.”

“I can do that,” Tetsurou says, feeling absurdly excited about it. Kenma wants to see him in his wolf form. Not only is he okay with Tetsurou being a werewolf, he actually wants to _see_ his wolf form. It makes his inner wolf preen.

“I bet you’d let me pet you as a wolf,” Kenma teases.

“Oh, definitely,” Tetsurou says, not even trying to act as if the mere _idea_ doesn’t make him feel blissed out and pleased. Kenma raking his hands through Tetsurou’s fur? He’s never heard of anything better in his life. He’d never let himself think about it before, but now that he does, he can barely contain his excitement. He’d be willing to bet that it’s going to be the best thing he’s ever felt in his life.

Kenma laughs at that, at the earnest excitement in Tetsurou’s voice, and Tetsurou grins into Kenma’s hair. He loves this boy so much, so incredibly much, he has no idea how to even put it into words. Being with Kenma feels so good, so glorious, he wants to spend every day of his life as close as possible to Kenma. The need for Kenma to be his, to be _only_ his, suddenly rakes through him, hot and possessive, and he has to work really hard to supress the instinct to just thoroughly rub his scent into Kenma.

“I bet your fur is soft,” Kenma says. He sounds a little sleepy, now, and exhausted, and that gets Tetsurou out of his possessive haze. Instead, his urge to take care of Kenma snaps over him. Kenma is still sick, after all.

“Maybe you should get some more sleep,” he says softly, “and after that you could eat some soup?”

Kenma grumbles a little, but he lets Tetsurou arrange them so that they’re laying down, Kenma still in Tetsurou’s arms, his head now resting comfortably on Tetsurou’s chest, the way it had this morning.

“You’re so coddling,” Kenma grumbles, but he sounds fond.

“Am not,” Tetsurou says.

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Tetsurou loves Kenma so much his heart aches with it.

\--

Tetsurou slowly feeds Kenma more information about werewolves as the weekend goes on; the most pivotal bit of information he tells him is that he considers him part of his pack – he doesn’t _intend_ on telling him, but after explaining pack bonds to Kenma, Kenma asks him point blank if he is a part of Tetsurou’s. Tetsurou is unable to do anything but confirm this. The result is the softest look Tetsurou has ever seen on Kenma’s face, something sweet and loving, and for a moment, it feels as if maybe, just maybe, he could tell Kenma that he’s in love with him without it ruining their friendship. The moment passes and he doesn’t, but it feels like something has changed, just the littlest bit. There’s a new feeling of possibility blooming in his chest, were formerly there was only hopelessness. He tries not to dwell on it, tries to tell himself that there’s no point. Still, it stays.

He also tells Kenma about pack scenting. Mainly because Kenma brings it up.

He just looks at Tetsurou at some point, and asks “Do werewolves scent-mark?” Tetsurou chokes on his spit.

“Our territory or other wolves?” he asks weakly.

“Both,” Kenma says.

“We usually don’t scent-mark our territory, mainly because there’s really no good way to do it without property damage,” he says, feeling humiliation crawl up his skin. He pointedly refuses to think about how he’d felt like clawing his scent into the threshold of their new house after they’d moved to Tokyo, just so he’d feel more at ease. For some reason, his father had immediately spotted the desire on him and they’d had a long talk about the desire to scent-mark territory and the many scenarios in which it’s either inappropriate or simply a _really_ bad idea. To this day, the only talk about werewolf instincts he’s had with his father that had been worse is the one about scent-marking a _person_.

“There is scent-marking in packs,” he says, “although not a lot of it is deliberate. Werewolves like to be close to their pack, and usually regular pack cuddles sufficiently leave scent on the entirety of the pack. Deliberate pack-scenting is usually something we only do when something’s offset our instincts and we need to ground ourselves.”

“Hm,” Kenma makes. “You’ve definitely deliberately scent-marked me before, though. Were those special occasions then?” Tetsurou chokes on his spit for the second time that day. He tries to think of a good excuse; to tell Kenma about the other type of scent-marking werewolves do, the way he’s been scent-marking Kenma, is entirely out of the question. He also wonders if Kenma is able to pinpoint every occasion that Tetsurou’s scent-marked him, looking back. He hopes not, because there are a lot of them, and he’s not sure he can come up with excuses for all of them.

“Sometimes it’s just nice if your pack smells like you. It simply puts me at ease,” he says weakly. It’s probably one of the worst explanations he’s offered so far, but Kenma just makes a considering hum and leaves it be.

Tetsurou is _very_ thankful for that.

\--

Things change, after that. Not all that much; Tetsurou didn’t really hide his more animalistic behaviour as much as he should have from Kenma even before Kenma knew, but now that Kenma does know, he pretty much gives up on hiding it altogether.

He lets Kenma see the full-body-wiggles he sometimes feels the urge to do whenever he gets excited about something; he gives into the urge to sniff Kenma when it possesses him; he even lets Kenma witness him going into a full sprint to hunt down a squirrel on one memorable occasion, which ends up with Tetsurou sitting disappointedly in front of a tree and Kenma making fun of him for it for weeks.

He also gives into the urge to scent-mark Kenma more; Kenma seems to have taken Tetsurou’s explanation that it’s simply a nice thing that puts him at ease without questioning it at all, because he never inquires about it when Tetsurou does it. He also doesn’t seem off-put by it; in fact, he even initiates more body contact himself.

Given the fact that they were already pretty much touching all the time _before_ Kenma learned about Tetsurou’s secret, it’s amazing that Kenma has managed to up their cuddling time even more. Tetsurou loves every second of it.

Yaku has taken to making gagging noises at them whenever he encounters Kenma sitting in Tetsurou’s lap – which is quite often during lunch break – but they’ve both become rather skilled at ignoring him.

Kenma also does make good on the promise to pet him one Saturday afternoon, when they’re relaxing in Kenma’s room. The best thing isn’t even how amazing and relaxing it feels and how much Kenma seems to enjoy his wolf form, but that Kenma is up for playing tug with Tetsurou for a full thirty minutes afterwards. Kenma had apparently bought the dog toy rope as a joke, but Tetsurou gets so earnestly excited over it that they end up playing with it. It feels like he’s in heaven; even though Kenma isn’t as physically strong as another wolf would be, playing with him is still incredibly fun and Tetsurou loves every second of it.

Afterwards, they end up sprawled out on Kenma’s bed, and even though Tetsurou’s in his human form again, Kenma keeps softly running his fingers through his hair.

Tetsurou is so overcome with love for him; he barely understands how that much love can even fit into his body. It feels like he’s bursting at the seams, the love trying to flow out of him, envelop them completely.

He just loves Kenma so, so much, everything about him, and his love keeps growing and growing, even when it shouldn’t possibly be able to.

\--

Now that Kenma knows about Tetsurou – and Bokuto and Akaashi, who had given Tetsurou their permission to tell Kenma, although Kenma figured it out on his own, much like Tetsurou expected – they make plans to hang out at Bokuto’s parents’ house out of town again. They once again settle on a Sunday, simply because it’s the most convenient day for all of them, seeing as they all have volleyball practice on Saturdays. Akaashi joins them, this time.

The entire Sunday is incredibly fun, the experience enhanced so much by Kenma’s knowledge about their true nature.

At some point they end up going for a run through the forest, Kenma staying behind. Tetsurou nags him to come along, but Kenma just rolls his eyes at him, waves his PSP in Tetsurou’s face and tells him in no uncertain terms that he’d really rather not have to move and would be more than happy to have them go on their wolf run alone. So that’s what they do.

They shift beforehand and run as wolves.

Running in his wolf form feels _amazing_ , the earth soft under Tetsurou’s paws, his noise picking up on every little remnant of a smell. He feels wild and free, the wind stroking along his sides, raking through his fur, and he loves every second of it, Akaashi and Bokuto beside him.

While their shifted forms are similar, they’re all a little different; Tetsurou’s the biggest out of the three of them, although Bokuto has a wider chest and is more muscular. Tetsurou’s fur is black and a lot softer than his human hair is, but even so it tends to look a little unruly.

Akaashi, who is the smallest out of the three of them, much like he is as a human, as well as a lot more fine-boned and regal looking, has black fur too but his looks very silky and smooth. Tetsurou would ask him how he manages that but if the answer is that he doesn’t put any effort in and it just looks that way naturally, then he’d rather not know.

Bokuto’s fur is a silvery grey and rather course. He has the bushiest tail out of the three of them and the biggest paws. Since he’s also the most easily excitable out of the three of them and tends to wag his tail a _lot_ , he draws attention to it all the time. Tetsurou thinks it’s quite adorable. He knows Akaashi and Kenma agree with him on this.

After running for a while, Bokuto suddenly bounds to the side and excitedly tackles Akaashi, the two of them tumbling to the ground. Tetsurou happily bounds over, throwing himself on top of them, trying to get in on their playful scuffle, just to immediately be tackled to the ground by Bokuto as well.

They play-fight for a little while and then eventually just lay down in the dirt, panting a little. It’s nice, like this. Tetsurou feels calmer than he has in a long while. He missed properly shifting and using this body, he realizes. Just running as a wolf, fighting a little, using all his muscles, the way this body was made for: it feels really, really good.

The only thing that would make it more perfect would be his mate by his side, Kenma.

He calmly thinks this, and it takes him a moment to realize with which calmness he’d thought of Kenma as his mate. There’s this feeling of certainty in him, this realization that it’s only natural for him to think this way, because it’s true: Kenma is his mate.

He’d known it when he first wanted to scent-mark Kenma, back in middle school, he realizes. He’d pushed it away, told himself it was just his crush. And in a way, it _is_ because of his feelings. He’s in love with Kenma, that much is true, unequivocally and completely true. And it’s because of that that Kenma is his mate. His body and instincts have accepted this long before he himself has: he’s set on one person, on Kenma, and simply being friends with Kenma will never be enough.

He loves Kenma in such an all-encompassing way, he needs him by his side; not as his best friend, but as his partner, as his mate, the one person he will face life with together.

It’s weird, how long it’s taken him to come to terms with this, and it’s weird that it’s this moment now, laying in the dirt next to Bokuto and Akaashi, panting and exhausted, that the thought can finally settle.

But it has been a long time in the making, and he thinks the reason he can accept it now is the tiny spark of possibility that set itself in his chest the day he told Kenma he’s part of Tetsurou’s pack.

The thought of telling Kenma still terrifies him, but it feels like he ought to, now.

He stares at the sky and wonders why this realization doesn’t feel more ground-breaking than it does. He thinks it’s maybe because he has always known, deep down, that the day would come where he’d let himself accept this, that there was no way around this.

This was set in stone the day he’d met Kenma.

There’s worse destinies to have, as things go, he thinks.

\--

It’s not until he’s home and laying in his bed that night, waiting for sleep to pull him under, that it hits him what this truly means. It means he’ll have to tell Kenma.

At some point, he’ll have to start a conversation with Kenma, and by the end of it, Kenma will know, and things will be changed, for the better or worse.

It’s a lot, he thinks.

\--

Tetsurou doesn’t feel like he can go to Bokuto about this. Bokuto’s input probably wouldn’t be helpful, and Bokuto’s also busy courting Akaashi the proper werewolf way, which involves a lot of posturing and food-giving. Akaashi’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree every time Bokuto brings him food, which is nauseating and very adorable at the same time.

Tetsurou doesn’t think this would work as a confession on Kenma.

Plus, he’s already been courting Kenma in werewolf terms for years, although without the implication of it being courting: taking care of him, making him food, and buying (and even baking) him a truly unholy amount of apple pie because he’s too weak to resist Kenma’s pleas.

So Bokuto is out.

Akaashi doesn’t feel like the right person to ask, either – Tetsurou hasn’t actually known Akaashi for all that long, or had any conversations with only him, so he can’t imagine trying to talk to him about this.

Which is why he ends up accosting Yaku at school, just after classes end, before he can make his way to volleyball practice.

“Yakkun,” he says, and something in his face must give him away, because Yaku immediately looks very exhausted. Or maybe it’s just the fact that he’s accosting Yaku right now that’s giving him away – after all, they did just see each other a few hours prior during lunch break. (Kenma was sat right in Tetsurou’s lap during lunch break, though. He really couldn’t have asked Yaku then.)

“Kuroo,” Yaku says, sounding like he’s already dreading this conversation.

“I need your advice,” Tetsurou says and guides Yaku away from the crowded hallway.

“I’ve tried to give you advice so many times and you’ve never actually liked what I had to say,” Yaku says, disgruntled.

“Well, today is different,” Tetsurou says. They’ve finally reached a vacated part of the hallway. “Yaku, how do I tell Kenma I’m in love with him?”

“You mean he doesn’t already know?” Yaku says with raised eyebrows.

“What?” Tetsurou says. He can feel his face grow warm. This is decidedly not the answer he expected to get.

“Sorry,” Yaku says, not sounding very apologetic at all. “He probably doesn’t know. Sometimes I think he’s just as dumb as you.”

“Hey! That’s not very nice,” Tetsurou says, now being the disgruntled one.

“Honestly, Kuroo, I don’t think it matters how you tell him,” Yaku sighs. “The guy has been waiting for ages. Just do it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tetsurou asks. This is also very much not what he expected. He just wanted some advice, maybe a pep talk so that he wouldn’t immediately go back to being too terrified to even consider the idea of telling Kenma. Because for all that he’s decided he needs to do this, it’s still a terrifying idea; telling Kenma will most likely disrupt their entire friendship. It will change things, and this could go in either direction. Tetsurou thinks that they’re probably close enough friends for their relationship to survive this, but even so the thought of Kenma rejecting him is horrifying. He’s not sure how he’s supposed to deal with knowing for sure that his mate doesn’t want him, that he’s hung up on one person but it’s one-sided. Just because _he_ doesn’t think their friendship is enough anymore doesn’t mean _Kenma_ sees it this way. It’s a terrifying thought.

And now here’s Yaku, acting like this isn’t the biggest decision Tetsurou has ever made in his life.

“It means exactly what I said,” Yaku says. “I honestly don’t have the energy to elaborate on this further.” He sighs, looking and sounding like a displeased parent dealing with a rowdy child. Then he hitches his bag further up his shoulder and simply starts walking to practice.

Tetsurou stares after his back for a few seconds before hurrying along.

What the fuck.

\--

Tetsurou can’t stop thinking about Yaku’s words all the way through practice. Yaku said Kenma has been waiting. What does that even _mean_? That he already knows about Tetsurou’s feelings, that he figured them out a long time ago and is just waiting to get this over with? Knowing Kenma and how observant he is, this wouldn’t surprise him.

But then again, Yaku also said that Kenma probably _doesn’t_ know that Tetsurou is in love with him.

It’s all a little bit much, and it’s seriously eating away at his nerves. It’s not like this is a small, inconsequential thing, after all; Kenma is the most important person in Tetsurou’s life, he’s not afraid to admit that to himself. Maybe it should scare him, that he’s not afraid to put Kenma above his family. But it has been that way for a long time now; when Tetsurou thinks of home, he thinks of Kenma. It’s Kenma who he keeps coming back to, who his thoughts revolve around. Every big happenstance that’s occurred over the last few years has somehow had Kenma right there, in the centre of it.

It’s important that Tetsurou does this _right_ , finds the right moment and the right words to say. And all Yaku had to say is that it doesn’t matter, when that couldn’t be further from the truth, when it matters _so much_.

Tetsurou keeps thinking about Yaku’s words, getting more and more frustrated and confused, and finally decides to drop them. If Yaku doesn’t want to actually be helpful, then so be it.

Tetsurou can manage to find the right way to do this on his own.

\--

He spends a lot of time thinking about this, over the span of the next few weeks. He think about it more than he’s ever thought about anything in his life. But no matter how long he lays awake, trying to think of the right words to say, he just can’t seem to find them. There’s nothing that’s just perfect, that’s exactly what he needs.

And Tetsurou is unwilling to do this less than perfect. Not for Kenma. Not for this.

\--

It’s Sunday and they’re sitting in Kenma’s bedroom, as they do so often on Sundays.

It’s their typical set-up: Kenma is, once again, sat in Tetsurou’s lap, his back resting against Tetsurou’s chest. He’s playing a game on his PSP, some RPG Adventure. He’d explained the story and mechanics to Tetsurou, but he’d been so cute doing it, excitement sneaking into his voice and his eyes shining, that Tetsurou honestly hadn’t paid too much attention; he’d been too busy staring at Kenma, falling more in love with every single line of his face.

He’s watching Kenma play the game now, his chin hooked over Kenma’s shoulder, hands settled comfortably on Kenma’s hips. Even though he hasn’t paid attention to Kenma’s explanation, he’s starting to understand the game mechanics and story now, watching Kenma’s gameplay. Although he does sometimes zone out, just focusing on Kenma’s breathing, the subtle movements of his body, the way he smells.

Being this close to Kenma is intoxicating, in a way, and the fact that Tetsurou gets him this close on a daily basis seems incredible to him, like something he’s definitely not worthy of. (The fact that he wants to ask for even more than this almost seems like blasphemy.)

Kenma is entering a boss battle now, the music changing to something more dramatic, his body slightly tensing up in his focus.

Tetsurou rubs soft circles on his hips with his thumbs, trying to still his desire to touch Kenma at least somewhat. He sometimes just wants to lay Kenma down, let his hands roam all over his body, touch every single part of him, until Kenma is entirely his, branded by Tetsurou’s touch.

It’s absurd that he’s so _close_ and it’s somehow still not enough.

Kenma, of course, isn’t aware of Tetsurou’s thoughts, instead completely focused on his game. There’s this cute furrow between his brows that he only gets when he’s focusing really hard, a determination to the set of his lips. To someone who doesn’t know him, these changes might seem small, might not even be picked up on, but Tetsurou knows him, can guess at the expression of his face from the tiniest change in his voice or the way he holds his shoulders, can guess at Kenma’s mood from the tiniest change in Kenma’s expression.

Tetsurou knows Kenma’s body almost as intimately as his own, has stored and analysed years of knowledge stemming from hours upon hours of just looking at Kenma.

It’s why he knows Kenma is going to defeat the boss before it happens on the screen; there’s a little twitch in his body, something satisfied clinging to the curl of his mouth that tells Tetsurou that Kenma thinks he’s probably done it, and then, sure enough, the music changes and ‘Victory’ flashes over the screen.

Kenma smiles a full smile now, a self-satisfied one, and lets out a little whoop, and it’s so incredibly adorable, even after all the times he’s seen this exact expression on Kenma’s face, that Tetsurou’s heart bursts and the words are out of his mouth before his mind can even register that he was about to say them.

“I’m so in love with you,” he says, deep affection and earnest wonder in his voice, and then the world stops for a second and everything goes blank.

Tetsurou has a moment to panic, a singular, short moment – and then Kenma lets his PSP fall and turns around in his arms, looking at him with such wonder that Tetsurou’s world stops for an entirely new reason.

“Kuroo,” Kenma breathes, his voice soft. His eyes are shining with the same love Tetsurou read in them the day he told Kenma he considers him pack.

“Kenma,” Tetsurou says, his voice just as soft. All this time he’d spent wondering, all this time he’d been scared. Now that he looks at Kenma, he doesn’t know why anymore. Everything seems so clear with Kenma right here in his arms, looking at him like that. It’s obvious, suddenly, that there never was any other possible ending than this: his feelings mirrored in Kenma’s face.

Kenma leans up, then, and his lips find Tetsurou’s. Tetsurou’s eyes close of their own accord. Kenma’s lips feel incredible on his; they’re a little dry and chapped and he’s clumsy, obviously inexperienced, but it’s still the best thing Tetsurou’s ever felt, Kenma’s lips softly, a little hesitantly moving against his.

When Kenma pulls back after a few seconds, there’s a dazed, happy expression on his face. Tetsurou is pretty sure he’s got the same expression on his own.

“You asshole,” Kenma says, suddenly, his words offset by the small grin on his face.

“What,” Tetsurou sputters.

“You should have done that a lot earlier. I spent so much time trying to figure out if you returned my feelings or if I was just imagining things,” Kenma says, narrowing his eyes at Tetsurou, the grin still on his face. He sounds earnest, though, and Tetsurou think he can hear traces of the nervousness Kenma must have felt in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “To be fair, I didn’t expect you to feel the same way about me.” It’s the honest truth: for all that he was certain in the fact that he had to tell Kenma, he didn’t actually let himself hope for Kenma to return his feelings.

It’s a lot, to know that he does, in fact, return them. It’s a heady feeling, a little surreal. Tetsurou feels like he’s glowing. It’s such a strong feeling, this glowing happiness inside him, that he wouldn’t be surprised if you could physically see it emanate from his skin.

“So basically we’ve both been stupid,” Kenma says, affection and laughter in his voice.

“Yes,” Tetsurou says, and then dips down to kiss him again.

\--

“I think we may have a mating bond,” he tells Kenma later that day, when they’re laying on his bed, simply cuddling, the way they so often do.

“I have no idea what that means,” Kenma tells him.

“I’m not really sure myself,” Tetsurou admits. He thinks that’s okay. They have time to figure this out, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I would be over the moon if you could leave me a comment. :)  
> You can find me on twitter @ shiwiwrites


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